The End of A War
by Machinist's Guardian Archangel
Summary: After waking up from his indoctrination, Shepard is the only one who can still win the war with the Reapers. And after it's over, what then? Will feature the relationships and choices he's made until then, with a focus on Shepard and Tali. Continues on "Tali's Hangover" and "A Surprise Question." M rating only for brief language. Any reviews would be very nice, people. Seriously.
1. The Final Enemies

In case you guys still get emails every time I update, let me apologize now. I have a DeviantArt account that I do post most of the same stuff I do here. Somehow, I never posted this giant series there, so I'm starting to do that now. This chapter happens to be one of the worst, in my opinion, and I wanted to clean it up before posting it. I made no changes to it, aside from cleaning up some places and fixing grammar. So sorry, minions and minion-ettes. You still have to wait for my next piece.

With deepest sincerity, MGA.

* * *

My eyes shoot open just as the red explosion reaches me. My lungs fill with air and my nerves scream in pain. I yell as every burn and scratch comes to me. I grit my teeth and try to stand up. Every muscle and bone protests, but I manage to get on my feet. It takes a few seconds for everything to become clear again. I remember the run down to the beam, Hammer getting wiped out, Harbinger... That last laser... But what about the Citadel?

I look up and see the beam still glowing strong, surrounded by the explosions of ships deep in space. Wait. Why is there still fighting? I set off the Catalyst. I remember the Illusive Man killing himself, Anderson dying beside me... That weird child telling me about the cycle and our "preservation." I shot that container. This should all be over... I should be dead... Unless...

Indoctrination. It has to be. All these years of fighting around Reapers and their artifacts: they had to add up. Getting hit must have weakened me enough for them to get control for a little bit. It's the only thing that makes sense. Why wouldn't they try to do that to me? Just took them longer than it would have for other people. I hope it only affected me.

I try to step towards the beam, but my body screams in surrender. I give myself a shot of medi-gel, and the pain-killers flood my system. My muscles move again with complaints, just enough that I can fight again. My chest piece took the brunt of the damage, melting into my skin and hardening in a new shape across my torso and arms. The recon hood is all but gone: just a few bits of it and one working lens for my right eye. The rest of my gear took superficial burns. Nothing to stop me. If they think that laser is all they'll need to kill me, they're wrong. All they've done now is piss me off. I pull out my Paladin, throw in a new clip, and walk towards the beam.

A moan beside me makes me stop in my tracks. "Shepard..." Anderson is leaned against the support around the beam, bleeding badly.

"Admiral!" I yell, rushing to his side. "Hang on, Anderson."

"Are there any survivors?" he groans through his teeth as I apply medi-gel.

"Not that I've seen..." I mutter. What happened to Ash? And Javik? Not them too...

A Reaper laser comes out of nowhere and rips through the ground beside us. I grab Anderson by his shoulder and drag him behind a destroyed tank.

"SHEPARD!" Harbinger screams, sending another laser over us.

"Shit!" I shout to myself. Not even my Black Widow will do anything more than piss him off. "Anybody on this channel! Someone answer me, damn it!" I scream into the comms.

"Shepard!" Joker shouts back. "Tell me that's you!"

"It's me, Joker! We're pinned down at the beam! Harbinger's here! Can you distract him?!"

"I'll do more than distract that son of a bitch!"

The Normandy strafes from the FOB, letting out a barrage of missiles and a Thaxis beam right into the side of Harbinger. He rocks from the impact and shifts his beams towards Joker.

"COME ON! TRY AND HIT ME!" Joker yells, laughing like a mad man as the Normandy starts pulling flips and spins around the beams. One gets close, but Joker keeps the ship just out of the beam. "TRY AGAIN, YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

"Give him Hell, Joker!" I yell. "I'm going to the Citadel!"

"Stay safe, Shepard..." Anderson moans from the ground beside me.

"Hang on, Anderson. We're almost done."

"No... I am..." he mutters. He closes his eyes and his head droops down. That's another friend this war has taken. Not... one... more...

"Aaron!" Tali's voice screams as I get into the Citadel beam.

"Tali!" I yell back. "Where are you?"

"All of us are at the base! Joker, EDI, and the other crewmen are the only ones on the Normandy!"

The beam picks me up like the beacons did, leaving me hovering a few inches above the ground for a brief moment before I shoot up.

"Are you ok?" Tali asks in fear from the comms.

"I'm fine, Tali. I promise." I say softly. The whole time I was up there last time, in my dream... All I could think about was leaving her alone in this world... "I'll come back, Tali. We'll get more time. I promise."

"Keelah se'lai..." she mutters.

I come to a stop at the end of the council chambers. Of course. There's Reaper wires laying everywhere on the ground and running along the ceiling. Bodies of too many are in piles in corners and right in the middle of the walkway. What the Hell were they doing up here...?

"I'm going for the master control unit at the Councilor's podiums!" I shout, changing the channel briefly to the Alliance freqs. "Make sure the Crucible fleet is ready to get in there the moment I have the arms open!"

"We hear you, Commander." Hackett announces. "We're on our way."

The next thing I do is change back to my first channel. "Tali..." I sigh into the comms. "Can you still hear me?"

"I hear you, Aaron..." she whispers, her voice cracking with tears.

"Listen to me, Tali. I will come back to you." My own voice starts to break as I try to keep going. "I love you. You are the only thing that has ever been worth fighting for to me. You are worth more than I've ever given you, and everything I will give you when I get back. I promise you I will come back. And I promise I still want to love you after this is all over. I will be with you on Rannoch, in our little house. I promise you Tali..."

I finally realize what I thought was blood running down my cheeks is tears. "I will come back for you. I love you."

"I love you, too..." she cries, barely audible. "I'll hold you to that promise..."

"Good... Say a prayer for me, baby girl."

Paladin in front, I charge up the stairs towards the Councilor's podiums. Where it all began... Where it all will end...

I get to the top, and the Illusive Man's standing in front of the controls, blocking me. I stop at the edge of the platform and train the pistol on him.

"Move. Now." I order.

"I can't do that, Commander."

He looks just like he did during my dream, with the suit, Predator pistol in his hand, and the same metallic veins running down his face.

"I won't ask again." I say coldly.

"You can't stop me, Shepard. I won't let you. I can still control the Reapers. I can use the Catalyst to-"

I cut him off with a bullet straight to the face, but it doesn't hit him. It's stopped by a barrier, or a shield. He glows a dark blue blue as biotics charge up in him. The Reaper tech... It must have done the same thing it did to Grayson... And he took down half of Aria's forces. Shit.

He biotic charges just as I dive for cover behind the plants. I pop off the rest of the mag into his back, but the barriers stop them. He turns and opens fire with the Predator while I haul ass for the pillars to the side. What's left of the goggle's HUD screams my shields are down by the time I reach cover. Paladin's not gonna cut it. I swap the clip and pull out my Punisher.

"This is what we stand to gain from control!" he shouts.

Biotics hold him ten feet in the air, giving him an open field of fire on me. We both unleash our clips wile I run for more cover. At least fifty of the bullets strike him before I get down behind another planter, but my HUD says his barriers aren't even registering the damage. You have got to be fucking kidding me!

I hit him with an energy drain, and it drops enough to see it on the meter. Thanks, baby girl. That trick will be handy. It only dropped his barriers about a tenth, but he doesn't have armor. I can work with that. Just keep going, Commander... he's not invincible.

"Shepard, we need those arms open now!" Hackett orders over the comms.

"I'm working on it!" I shout back, peppering the Illusive Man with more bullets and energy drain as he floats in the middle of the bridge.

"Are you still this blind?" he asks while throwing the planter like a rag doll. "Can you not see what we can become?"

"I see you've become just as mindless as your troops and the husks!" I shout. I take cover behind another support pillar. "You've lost sight of everything you fought for. Instead of fighting the Reapers, you're fighting for them!"

"That's not true! I'm fighting for humanity! For our evolution!" A volley of Predator rounds tear through the air where my head was a second ago.

"Our "evolution" is us killing the Reapers, not becoming their minions!" When the next barrage comes, I sabotage the pistol, making it explode in his hand.

"You can't stop me, Shepard!"

I feel myself being lifted up by his biotics and pulled towards him, right in front of the console. He keeps me locked straight up with his stasis while he brings me to him and wraps his hands around my throat. "This is the price for not seeing the big picture." he says, choking me and holding his face an inch from mine. "This is why you have to die."

"You... first." I mutter. I get an energy drain off from my omni-tool, stunning him enough to drop his stasis and pull on me. I slam my hands down on his arms and break his grip. The second my feet touch the ground, they push off. I land on top of him, then the grip of the Punisher breaks his nose while I pull out a grenade.

"Block this."

I stick it to his forehead and take off down the walkway to escape the blast.

I'm in cover when the grenade goes off. He screams in pain after the shock wave subsides. Son of a bitch survived it. I peak around the corner and the HUD shows his barriers are down. Still have to kill the Reaper tech in him, though. Grayson regened faster than a krogan, and I bet with the Reapers in spitting distance, it'll be even faster. Don't back down... Make these bastards pay...

"SHEPARD!" Harbinger screams, except from the Illusive Man's mouth. The human's voice is still there, but it's layered with the Reaper's. "DIE!"

He throws a warp that destroys the planter and knocks me to the ground. I empty the clip, but it doesn't even stagger him. The incinerate behind it, though, knocks him back and lets me find cover behind the next garden. HUD says he's down to three-quarters health, but he regens it before I can even swap out the clip. Need to hit him hard and fast, right now.

I hear him gear up for a singularity while I switch to my Black Widow. I roll from cover just as it floats into the air, spinning like a paper weight thrown by a child. He pulls his hand back for another. Too bad the first bullet between the eyes stops him in his tracks. The back of his head explodes open, raining bits of blood, bone, and tech across the podium. HUD says just over half health. The second hits him right in the teeth, punching another massive hole. His jaw comes clean off and flies across the room. Less than a tenth left. The third in the nose puts him down permanently.

I reload the clip, but keep the rifle out and trained on him. I approach slowly, ready for him to try and get up again. He twitches a few times, but doesn't move. I stop over him and flip him onto his back with the barrel of the rifle. He's actually alive, barely. Most of his face is gone, but his eyes are still there. The steel blue stare back at me in fear, in surprise. He's free from the Reaper control, and now the broken human is coming out. Guess Harbinger decided his puppet wasn't worth the trouble anymore.

"Hey... Still hearing me?" I ask calmly. His eyes stay glued to me, blinking occasionally. "I'll take that as a yes." I open up the console and open the Citadel arms, just like I did, what, four years ago now? "Crucible, you are clear to dock. Get your ass in gear." I tell the comms.

"We're on the way, Shepard." Hackett chimes in. "Let's finish this."

"Understood. Waiting on dock."

I return my attention back to the Illusive Man. He's still breathing. I bend down to his face. "What was it I told you about a year ago? "I'll save humanity, and I won't sacrifice the soul of our species to do it." Well, look. I did it. In your quest for power, you sold your soul to these bastards, and you lost sight of what was going on. That is why I can defeat them, and you can't. I don't care about the power. All I want is our freedom."

I stand up and put the barrel of the rifle against his left eye. "This is for all of the soldiers we lost because you had to have your way." The bullet tears out the rest of his head.

I kick his body off the walkway and hear it crash to the pile below. Guess they kept more bodies down there, like they did in the dream... What the fuck were they doing up here? I drop another grenade down for good measure. The explosion rattles the podium, and the heat rakes my skin. No way he's getting up from that.

I look back out the window. The arms are finally open, and the Crucible is coming. Hackett wasn't kidding when he said it was a massive project. It has to be bigger than an actual Reaper, bigger than the tower. Seeing it come to attach is more than a little unsettling... Earth flaming behind it sure as Hell ain't helping.

"YOU WILL NOT SUCCEED!" Harbinger screams. I see him charging towards the tower, opening up to let loose his lasers again. He'll be here in seconds.

"Get that son of a bitch docked now!" I yell.

"Five seconds!" some engineer yells back. "Four, three, two!"

"SHEPARD! YOU WILL DIE!" I see the laser charging up when the station shakes.

"We're docked!" the engineer shouts.

A bright red button appears on the console. I slam my fist on it just as a beam tears through the glass and into the ceiling above me. The barriers immediately seal the air in, but the beam lights the roof on fire. The Crucible glows blue for a split second, then sends beam right into Harbinger. An ear-splitting screech erupts from him. He feels the pain. Oh, the irony... He screams in agony as the beam refracts through him, and into another Reaper. This one sends out a massive blue blast around him, then shoots the beam to another. The process repeats itself in under a second, bouncing from Reaper to Reaper. Earth glows dark blue as the beam makes its round on the planet, then shoots out past us and towards the relays.

The ceiling starts to collapse above me. Falling bits of flaming metal rain down around me, trying to take the podium with it. I run for the elevators, praying that the beam works both ways and is still open. A big chunk crashes in front of me, almost crushing my toes when it hits. Shit, shit, SHIT!

I leap the stairs in one jump, then the second case in two. I can see the beam is still open, glowing blue on the ground. I keep sprinting for it, avoiding the debris and flaming plants on every side. The entire room is flaming now, not far from Purgatory ship back during Jack's escape. Though now it's corpses burning... The choking smell of burning clothes and flesh is suffocating, which is the only thing reminding me this is real and not a horrible nightmare...

I clear the last staircase when a sheet of metal collapses on me. The hot metal burns my back and arms while the weight shatters my ribs. It pins me to the ground under it, stopping me achingly close to the beam. I feel the skin on my head start to catch fire while I slowly crawl across the ground.

"You've got to get out of there, Shepard!" Hackett screams over the comms. "The tower's about to collapse on itself!"

I try to shout back an answer, but I can't find the strength or the oxygen to do it.

I keep inching my way closer and closer when my arms give up. My muscles surrender to the pain and the exhaustion. I try to pick them up, but they just lay on the ground. I scream at them to move, but they don't. They ignore everything I tell them... Eventually my head follows suit and lays on the now scorching hot metal. Nothing moves. Not one of my limbs listens to me. They gave up on survival...

This is it...

I'm really going to die here...

I feel the flames start to lick my skin, but they feel cold instead of burning. It's almost unreal, watching my arm start to melt and peel away. Was this how Dad felt on Mindoir? When those bastard batarians decided he wasn't worth being a slave and got him with a flamethrower? Like Mom, when they just shot her while I cowered under the rubble of my roof? Lieutenant O'Connor, back on Akuze, when the thresher maws melted him? Did the death of all of my friends and family feel like this? Not painful, but almost like a hallucination?

I don't feel any pain... Just numbness and my own heart thudding against my melting chest... After almost fifteen long years of fighting... This is what it feels like...

Huh...

"AARON!" Tali screams. "PLEASE! KEEP GOING!"

I see her face flash before my eyes. All the perfect details from last night and the last year. Her soft, raven black hair. Her perfect white skin, highlighted by the implants around her temples. Her white and red eyes with all of the love in the galaxy in them. Her lips as they kiss me...

"YOU PROMISED ME YOU WOULD COME BACK! YOU PROMISED ME!" I hear the tears in her voice... That sorrow... That one thing that could motivate me to go through Hell... The sound of her voice in pain...

And I'm causing it.

I promised her... I promised...

I pick my head up and press my arms against the ground. They find enough strength to get me up some. I get onto my back and pull my legs to my chest. The metal moves enough for me to get one leg away. I put every ounce of strength I have into that leg and move the sheet off of me. It slams to the ground as I scramble for the beam, less than two feet away from me.

Just as I reach it, it glows brighter than ever. I feel it pick me up again, but I lose consciousness the moment it takes me.


	2. Getting Back and Recovering

The next time I open my eyes, everything hurts. Worse than when I first got shot by Harbinger. I scream again in pain, but I don't have the energy to move my arm to my chest. A few tears of sheer agony come out as my eyes slam shut again. I grit my teeth as hard as I can, trying to block the pain out. Fuck, fuck... Fuck this hurts. I wish I could scream it, just to vent... But I don't even have the energy to do that. The only thing I can do is lay there and slowly tone the pain out.

I open my eyes again, absorbing all of the information I can. I made it to the beam. I'm back on Earth, on the ground where the Citadel's beam came from. The sun's starting to rise... The sky's clear now. No more explosions, no gun fire in the background... I can't believe it... It's finally over... I wish I could laugh and feel good about this.

Slowly, I roll over to my stomach and push myself to my knees. I fall back down at least three times, the burning and exhaustion preventing me from making it up all the way. When I get steady, I pull one foot out from under me and out in front. Using every ounce of adrenaline and will power I have, I stand to my feet. I try to give myself some medi-gel, but I'm out. Damn. A sigh comes out involuntarily. What I wouldn't give for it to be one of relief.

I slowly put my foot out and limp a half-step, almost falling again. The next foot comes after that, and then another half-step, and then another. I limp towards Anderson, still slumped over behind the tank, right where I left him. I bend down and press my fingers to his throat with a prayer that I feel one... but... Anderson is really gone. "I'm sorry, old friend." I sigh.

I open up my comms again. "Please, can anybody hear me?" I manage weakly.

"COMMANDER!" Cortez immediately screams back. "You're alive?"

"I think..." I say, prompting my ribs to burn in pain. "Is there anyone by the Citadel's beam? I need a lift."

"The team's at the FOB. I've got a shuttle, and can be there in ten."

"Thanks. I'll..." The sentence is interrupted by my own groan of pain. "..try to meet you by the top of the crater."

"Is that Shepard?" Vega questions.

"It's me, James. Get your ass down here and help me."

"We're coming, Loco."

"Somebody get a hold of Tali. She needs to know." Cortez says. "Be there in ten."

I slowly limp up the hill to the top. The irony occurs to me of how it takes me ten minutes to climb up when I ran down in about thirty seconds... Made it up, at least.

At the top of the crater, I reach up and grab the ledge when something grabs my hand. It's an arm, followed by another lower down to my elbow that grabs me and pulls me over. I yell in pain as the burns and broken bones sting like a bullet.

The arms get me onto the ground above it when I hear an familiar voice. "Oh, my God... Skipper... Javik, get your ass over here! Shepard's alive!" I never thought I'd be so happy to hear Ash...

She rolls me to my back when Javik reaches me. "Commander." he says with a tone with more surprise than anything else.

"Good to see you too." I moan, closing my eyes and resting. "What happened?"

"A tank exploded on our run down to the beam." Ash informs. "It fried our radios and pinned us under some rubble. We got free about an hour ago and started checking for survivors or a radio."

"I'm glad you guys are alright... The three of us are the only survivors of Hammer company."

"Not even Anderson?" Ash continues. I shake my head no.

"He died a noble death, Commander." Javik says. "He brought the Reapers with him."

"Can you guys help me up before I fall asleep again?" I ask.

Just as they hoist me to my feet, the shuttle lands with a thud in front of us. The door opens to the team and they rush out to me. Tali's out the door first, slamming into me with a hug. My ribs scream at me, but I don't care. I start to cry as I sling my arm off Javik and onto her shoulders.

"Keelah, don't do that to me..." she whispers, her voice broken and coming in small bursts. "Don't ever do that to me again..."

"I won't, baby girl." I whisper. I press my face against her hood and the cold of her mask. My tears make the fabric wet inside of a second.

"I thought I'd never see you again, Tali..." My own voice is breaking now. We're shaking like crazy with each sob. "I love you. I swear I love you. I will never leave you again..."

"We need to get him out of here." Ash finally says and breaks us up. Tali slips under my other shoulder while Javik grabs my legs and hoists me into the shuttle.

"Holy fuck, Loco." Vega mutters when he sees me collapse into a chair in the shuttle. "Get this fucker moving, Esteban!"

Everyone finally gets in, the doors shut, and the shuttle takes off.

"We'll be back at the refugee center in fifteen!" Cortez informs. "They'll have the best medics."

"Just hurry." Ash emphasizes.

EDI crouches down in front of me, bringing out her omni-tool and scanning me. "Multiple laser and fire burns, severe cuts and bleeding, multiple broken ribs, concussion..." she lists off. "Dispensing medi-gel."

Immediately, the painkillers flood my system, giving me relief. Not much, but enough to make me sigh.

"You have no idea how good that feels..." I half-chuckle.

Garrus takes the chair on my left and leans towards me. "You did it." he says, gently placing his hand on my shoulder. "The Reapers are gone, Aaron."

"Good..." I sigh, leaning back in my chair. "Not without a fight."

"We lost a lot of men, but... we won."

"There hasn't been a single Reaper moving since you set that thing off, Loco." Vega informs.

"Every Alliance fleet is making sure they're dead." Liara says. "But it's over."

I almost pass out with my head leaned back, so I roll it forward. One last thing.

"Tali..." She steps out in front of the rest and stops at my feet. "Come here..." I hold my hand up, finger baiting her towards me like a little taunt. She leans to my face, slow uncertainty in her movement.

I lay my hand on her shoulder and pull her mask to my forehead. "I love you, Tali'Zorah vas Rannoch." I whisper to her, more tears coming down. "You know that?"

She sets her hand on my cheek and runs her thumb down my jaw. Her suit feels so soft, just the perfect comfort I need, except maybe her skin.

"I know..." she whispers back. "I love you too, Aaron."

"I promise I'll never put myself in harm's way again. You deserve that. Ok?"

"Ok." she giggles. It's not her usual happy, sarcastic giggle, but her relieved and terrified one.

"What I said last night..." I continue. "About us... about Rannoch... I meant every word of it. I still want that. Do you?"

"Yes..." she laughs again, this time louder. "Yes, I do. I do..." she sobs.

"Good." I whisper. "I just wanted to make sure." My eyes close again out of exhaustion, and I lose consciousness.

* * *

The next time I open my eyes, all the pain's gone and fluorescent lights are above me. I can feel myself laying on my back, covered in what feels like bandages on a bed. I shake my head a little to clear it. I hear voices around me, but they sound distant.

It takes a moment for them to become clear. I start to pick out the voices and words. Garrus says something about checking a monitor, Ash about getting a nurse, Liara and not being awake. I pick my head up and look around, slowly working through the fog. I'm in a hospital room, laying on a bed, covered in bandages with wires coming out everywhere. I see everybody standing at the foot of my bed. Garrus, Liara, Vega, Ash, Tali... They're alternating between looking out the door and at me.

Finally, a nurse rushes in and over to me. All I catch is white skin and red hair before she pushes me down against the bed and starts to check me over. Usual lights in eyes check, breathing, heartbeat. "Do you know where you are, Commander?" she asks.

"Some kind of hospital?" I guess.

"That's right." she nods. "You're in the Alliance Naval Hospital on Mars."

"What am I doing on Mars?"

"This hospital was in the best shape after the war, Commander. You were on Earth for three days with the refugees until you were stable enough to move. You've spent the last four days in our ICU."

"I've been asleep for a week!?" I shout, making her jump back.

"Medically induced until yesterday." she informs. "All you have in you now is enough painkillers so you're comfortable and essential nutrients through an IV. I'm going to get your doctor to make sure you're functional. Don't try to move."

She goes back out the room and the guys walk over to me.

"How do you feel, Skipper?" Ash asks.

"A hell of a lot better than I did earlier." I chuckle a little. "Just... trying to wrap my head around things. How are you guys?"

"Most of us have slept in here at least once." Liara says. "Some haven't left your room."

"Let me guess: you, Ash, Garrus, Tali." I joke.

"You're surprised?" Garrus laughs. "We weren't about to leave you. No Shepard without Vakarian, remember?"

"So what all happened when the Crucible went off?" I ask. "The Reapers died, from the sound of it."

"The Crucible sent out some kind of EMP blast." Ash informs. "Some beam shot from one Reaper to the next. Each one that hit sent out a blue blast around it, killing any Reaper forces around it."

"The beam you took up there glowed brighter once, then died off." Garrus continues. "The Citadel tower exploded from the Reaper shot and the Crucible launch. I was watching it from the base. We tried to raise you the radio, but we couldn't get anybody to answer. We though all of you were gone."

Tali cuts in front and leans against the bed to me. She grabs my hand and holds in between both of hers, thumb rubbing up and down the top of my hand.

"I thought I'd lost you again..." she whispers. The fear in her voice is even more apparent now without the pain in my head.

I lay my other hand on hers and hold it tight. "I'm sorry, Tali." I assure her. "I shouldn't have left you behind. I just couldn't... If I lost you, I'd never forgive myself. I had to make sure that you survived... But I'm sorry... I swear to you I'm sorry..."

"I know..." she whispers.

Finally, the nurse returns with the doctor. The older man with thinning blonde hair stays on the other side of the bed, actually staying mindful of Tali. "How are you feeling, Commander?" he asks.

"All things considered, still in shock of being alive."

He jots something down on his clipboard. "Any serious pain? Sensitivity to light? Dizziness? Feeling in all your limbs?"

"Everything's a little numb and fuzzy. But fine, Doc." I shrug. "How bad was it?"

"You suffered severe burns from the first blast by the Reapers, melting your chest plate to you." he says. "The falling metal debris broke more than a few ribs and almost your spine and pelvis. Couple that with the burn damage from the flames, and your survival is no small miracle.

"Because of the burns and cuts, you will need multiple skin grafts. You'll still have scars, but you will look better than you do now. You look like you were fed to a meat grinder under the bandages. We have some skin growing down in the labs, so that's taken care of. But you have a lot of other injuries that will take a lot of time to heal."

"All right. Just give me a time line. How long am I going to be stuck here?"

"Another two weeks in ICU. A week in post-surgery after the skin grafts. A month in physical therapy, minimum." he calmly informs. "You'll be taking therapy for a long time, but you can go home in two months, Commander."

"That long?" I ask, surprised.

"The Reaper beam and fire did a lot of damage to your body, but a lot worse to all the tech inside you." he notes. "We had to replace a lot of it with cloned organs, and it will take a while for you to adjust back to them. Instead of having roughly sixty percent artificial systems that you had before, we have you down to just under five. You were lucky we got a heads up about you when you first got to the hospital on Earth and we had your DNA on file, which allowed us to grow the replacements on rush. We would have to have you hooked up to almost six different artificial systems if not for the new organs."

"At least I'm still alive." I sigh. "Was that all you needed?"

"Nothing else, Commander. You can use the intercom to call any time." They walk back out of the room and close the door behind them.

I turn back to the guys and laugh a little. "I still don't know how I'm alive..."

"You're asking us?" Garrus jokes. "We managed to save most of your gear. Black Widow, Tempest, Paladin. Even the omni-tool. Only your armor was beyond repair."

I make a fist, and it glows to life around Tali's hands. "Great." I say. "Where's everybody else? Wrex, Joker, Javik?"

"Wrex and Joker are out in the hall with EDI." Ash says. "Javik said something about some nebula and got a ride out of the system."

"I hope he finds his peace." I mutter to myself. After all this... he deserves it. We all do.

"You have one hell of a fan club waiting for you out there." Vega says. "Every damn marine, reporter, and nut job wants to see you, Loco."

"Ah, hell..." I chuckle. "I'll talk to all them later. I don't want to deal with them yet."

"Maybe you'll get to knock one of them out again." Tali giggles a little.

"Maybe..." I rub my thumb across her hand, enjoying the comfort she brings.

Finally, I start to doze off again. "Mind if I go back to sleep, guys?" I ask.

"No problem, Loco." Vega says and walks out.

"Sleep tight, Skipper." Ash jokes. She pats me on the leg and follows Vega.

"I'll tell Wrex and Joker you're ok." Liara says. She goes out the door a second later.

"Get better, Aaron." Garrus says. "We have a lot of people who owe us drinks, and I don't want to go through them all alone."

"Think you can find me a book or something? Maybe my guitar?" I ask.

"Sure." he says. He walks out, leaving me and Tali alone in the room.

I lay there holding her hand while she sits there and watches me. It feels like a minute passes by without either of us moving, neither really sure what to do next. "I love you, Tali." I say. I just feel like I need to.

"I love you too, Aaron." she says.

"Come here." I request.

She leans towards me, and I pull my hand out of hers. I lay it down behind her back and pull her down to my face. "Do you think you can get a hold of Raan back on Rannoch?"

"I can call her. Why?"

"Ask her about the houses on Rannoch. Tell her to save that spot that you wanted. Get some builders ready and some designers here. I want to see if we can at least plan some of the house."

"Ok..." she whispers. She laughs and sobs a little at the same time. "I can't believe we're actually doing this."

"I figure we'll make a fortune just off the interviews and publicity. We'll be set, Tali. We can make this work. We deserve to have a retirement after all this."

"I know. It's just..." She laughs again. "It's a lot..."

"I know..."

I figure the ICU is sterile, so I pull her mask off and bring her face to mine. I stare into her white and red eyes, just loving all the love and emotion I can see. I close my eyes and kiss her, savoring her sweet taste. She moans softly, then pushes back into me. I push her hood back and run my hand through her hair. My other arm wraps around her and pulls her against me. Her hands grab the back of my head, pulling my lips to hers.

I take my head back just a hair. "I love you." I whisper.

"I love you too." She presses her lips to mine again.

We kiss for I don't know how long. We forget the world and everything else. We just focus on the touch of the other, that love we have. I finally let go and she stands up.

"Is it ok if we wait for a little before we really talk about all of this?" I ask. "I promise we will figure all of this out but... I'm just exhausted..."

"Ok... I'll call Auntie Raan tonight." she says. She slips her mask back on and pulls her hood up. She takes one last second to run her hand across the side of my face. "I'll be here when you wake up again." And then she walks out of the room.

"I love you, baby girl..." I mutter while I drift to sleep.


	3. Poetry, Burns, and Promises

By the time I wake up again, it's the next day, according to the nurse who comes in to check on me the moment I open my eyes. I shake my head clear a little, getting everything clear again.

"Any pain?" she asks. It's the same nurse as yesterday. Now that everything is somewhat understandable, I can see she's in her late forties and a little on the heavier side. She has some wear and tear from the obvious stress of the job, but she's not as torn up as I am... even before the laser make over.

"No." I answer, followed by my stomach growling. "Could use a bite to eat, though."

"I'll bring up a tray as soon as I'm done. Nothing really strong, though. Your stomach is still trying to repair itself."

"I'll take nutrient paste, at the moment."

She finishes her scan with her omni-tool, leaves, returning five minutes later with a tray of oatmeal, a fruit cup, and some water.

"Thanks." I say, taking the tray and setting it on the bedside table.

"Just ring the intercom if you need anything else." she says.

"Hang on one second." I say just as she gets to the door.

She stops and turns back to me. "Yes?" she asks.

"Can I ask you kind of a personal question?"

"If it's relating to your penis, relax. It'll heal and be ready for action again before you start physical therapy." she says calmly.

"Uh... Not the question, but thank you for the assurance." I say sarcastically. "How much of the stores around here are still functioning? Like jewelry stores."

"There's a few places on Earth that deliver up here you can access from your omni-tool. Anything in particular?"

"An engagement ring."

Her eyes go a little wide, but return inside of a second. "For a Quarian, I assume?"

"Yeah. I don't care about price: just that I can make the most beautiful ring I can imagine. I still have some funding from my old missions I can dip into."

She smirks and suppresses a laugh as she walks over. "You're lucky. My brother has a store down on Earth for Turian and Quarian jewelry. It didn't get hit, thankfully, by any of the attacks. He should still have most of his merchandise. I can call him, set up a deal for you to make whatever you want."

"I'd appreciate that. Can you uh... keep this between us?" I look back outside, checking for the team. It looks like they're all asleep put there in the waiting room, curled up on the couches. Tali under her blanket immediately catches my eye. She looks more asleep from sheer exhaustion than any kind of peace.

"I can do that, Commander." she says. "Want it to be a surprise?"

"I already told her I want to marry her, and she agreed. She deserves a ring, though. I should have waited until I had one but..."

"You became impatient and couldn't not tell her how you felt?"

"Yeah." I half-chuckle, realizing how stupid I sound right now. But I dismiss the thought a second later. "She's the only one I've ever been with that made me truly at peace. She's special to me, and I want to hang on to her."

She nods in acknowledgment. "I read your file. That and what you just said... reminds me of a quote I heard somewhere. "I have battled with sinners. I have fought alongside saints. I have seen the horrors of Hell in darkness and in light. I have seen the faces of the fallen in my dreams, heard the whispers of the dead. I have not slept a sound night in years, for all I have done and all I have seen has haunted me like the Devil's own hounds. But now, in your arms, I find peace. Your heartbeat is my lullaby, your skin my sheets, and your comfort my one desire. I ask you now, will you give me your heart. If you will, I will give you all of my time on this earth. I would give you my own heart, but you already have it.""

"That's a very fitting quote, doctor." I say, not sure whether to chuckle or clap.

"I thought so. I'll call my brother. Have him message you tonight or tomorrow."

"Thank you."

She walks to the door, but stops just shy of it. "You know, that girl out there really does love you." she says.

"I know." I say. "Something I can't go more than a few minutes without thinking about."

"She has the entire staff worried. She ate maybe twice the whole time you were asleep for that first week. Never even left this room, just used the bathroom behind you. Slept in the chair by your side, holding your hand most of the time. The medics on Earth said she did the same thing there, that your team had to pull her away to get you to surgery. Didn't eat there once, didn't sleep. Rode the entire way up from Earth within three feet of you. When she kept sleeping here, I just covered her in a blanket and left some breakfast for her. She even tried to do it again last night. I had one of the stronger nurses help me carry her out there. First time she's gotten a full night's sleep since Earth, I bet. Just figured you'd like to know."

"She deserves more than I can ever give her. She always has."

"According to the Turian, Garrus? You've given her a way to finish her Pilgrimage, her life a few times, the home-world she's always dreamed of, someone to cry to when her father died, and your love. I don't see how you can give her much more."

"I think that's just a thing about love, or maybe it's just me about her. I never feel like everything I do was quite good enough. Not like "I'm worthless," but more like there's not enough gold on the ring, or enough hours in the day with her, or kisses on her while she sleeps: Just this constant urge to be at my best, because she deserves it."

"I'll have to remember that one." She walks out the room and leaves me alone with my breakfast, which is gone in under two minutes. I lay my head back down on the pillow for a moment, but I'm sound asleep before I know it.

I wake up in the middle of the night, not sure of what day or what time it is. All of the lights in the hallway are out, and only the monitors are lighting the room. The pulse sensors stuck to my chest have been replaced with the wireless version. The bandages have been changed too, a lot less than there were before. There's a small couch and chair in the corner, two slumbering bodies under blankets in them. It takes a moment to realize it's Garrus and Tali. Tali's sprawled out across the couch while Garrus fell asleep sitting up and head tilted back. As if on cue, he lets out a thunderous snore, making me chuckle a bit.

My cotton mouth and aching bladder prompt me to go to the bathroom behind me. It's slow going, getting my legs moving, but I make it work. Relieving the bladder goes off without a hitch, minus the header I almost take into the john. I have to post one shoulder on the wall to manage washing my hands, then hold myself up on both sides of the sink to suck down a few gulps of water from the faucet. My legs give out for a second as I turn the faucet off before I catch myself. Doc's right. I'm going to need some serious physical therapy to figure out how to move again.

I look at myself in the mirror. "Look like shit" doesn't even begin to describe it. Beard and hair starting to grow out, a couple of nasty cuts on my nose, cheeks and eyebrows. Most of the skin is more like leather than skin, cooked by the fire on the Citadel. Dark circles under my eyes... To be fair, those have been there for about the last... three months? Since I left Earth? Close to it. The bandages are covering my arms, chest, and legs. I wonder...

I take off the smock or jacket or whatever the hell they call the crappy shirt and start to undo the bandages. I'm careful not to move any of the sensors. Bet the docs won't be happy if they catch me taking these things off. There's two layers of stretch bandages over a thin layer of gauze, keeping the wounds sterile, I guess. I unwrap the tight corset, going all the way around me at least twenty times. It takes a little bit, but the skin is finally exposed... or what's left of it...

"Oh, God..." I whisper.

My skin isn't burned: It's either not there at all or just this solid hard mass in splotches. A good thirty percent of my torso is just a thin layer of film covering the muscle, with stitches and scars from the surgeries. Maybe forty or fifty percent is brown and black chunks. I run my hand across one, and it feels like charcoal instead of skin. I don't even have any feeling in those sections. Maybe ten percent is tan, flaky skin still holding itself into place. The rest is various levels of black and red ashes, almost... My back is even worse. More like fifty percent of the red film, fifty the charcoal skin... Just...

"Keelah." Tali's voice whispers from behind me.

I try to turn around and look at her, but all I manage is falling to the ground in the process.

"Are you ok?" she asks as she grabs my arm.

"I'm fine." I say. "Can you just help me up?"

She gets her shoulder under my arm and hoists me to my feet, then carries me to the bed again.

"What were you doing taking your bandages off?" she asks, the fear obvious in her voice. "It could stop you from getting better. You could get an infection."

"I know, I know." I surrender and drop my head. "I was stupid and wanted to see how bad it was."

She just stares at me through the mask for a few tense seconds, then grabs the bandages and some clean gauze from a cabinet. "We need to cover the wounds again. Before you get sick."

She spends the next ten minutes helping me wrap myself again. I move slowly, handing the bandage to her as it wraps around my left so she can get my right. She puts on more gauze and keeps it even tighter than the docs did, paranoid to keep me safe. We get it done soon enough, then she looks over me to make sure I'm ok.

"I'm sorry." I sigh as she adjusts a bit of bandage on my back. "I didn't think about it. I'm sorry I made you angry."

She stops in the middle of her adjustment and sits straight up. All I can see is her mask, impossible to read at the moment. Just this awkward silence... Then she wraps her arms around me in a hug tight enough to make me cough a little.

"I'm not angry." she whispers. "But please... quit scaring me like that..."

I hug her back and lean my cheek against the side of her mask. "I'm won't, Tali. I promise... I'll behave for you."

She starts to cry a little. I rub my arms across her back, trying to comfort her.

"What's wrong?" I whisper.

She sobs once, then sniffles.

"I'm still... I can't get over... I... I'm scared that you'll leave me..." she whispers, her words not separated by sobs, but by her voice losing its strength. "I was so scared I lost you on the Citadel... I thought that... that you were really gone... and that you wouldn't come back... I couldn't think of living without you... Not after all of this..."

She starts to full out bawl in my arms when the last words are choked out. I hold her as tight as I can, pressing my body against hers.

"Shh..." I murmur in her ear. "I'm not leaving you, Tali. I swear to you, I'll do whatever it takes to come back to you."

It doesn't stop her sobbing at all. She keeps crying and crying... I start to cry myself, I feel so bad about this. I just wish there was something I could do, something I could say to make her feel better, something...

I start saying the first thing that comes to mind.

"Tali, when I was on the Citadel, I gave up on coming home. Harbinger had shot the room I was in. I still had air, but the whole room was on fire. The only way I had out was through the beam again. Just before I got to it, a piece of the ceiling collapsed on me. It pinned me to the ground. It lit me on fire. I was stuck under it. My arms and legs had stopped working from exhaustion. I laid on the ground until the fire started burning me. I gave up on making it out alive. I thought for sure that I was going to die..."

She doesn't stop crying completely, but tones it down to quiet sobs and sniffles...

"The only reason I got out was you screaming at me over the comms. You, Tali. You gave me a reason to keep going. You reminded me that I promised I'd come back. I've broken my share of promises, but I will never break a promise I've made you. So let me make a few promises right now."

She sniffles a few more times and almost completely stops crying. She still heaves with a silent sob every few breaths, but she's getting better...

"The first is I promise I will never leave you. You reminded me we all need someone with us. I want to be the one you need, because I need you. I want to wake up next to you every morning for the rest of my life. I want to have every dinner with you, every memory, every smile, every little thing I have in this life. Because I love you and you're worth it."

The sobs become longer, ragged breaths, but the sniffles remain.

"The second is I promise I will never put myself in harm's way again. Almost a year ago, you said I deserved to be happy with someone. So do you. I don't want you to spend any more nights worrying about whether or not I'll come back, or any more hospital trips where you have to watch me lay in bed for days. I want you to know that you will always be my motivation to be careful."

She gets down to one sniffle for every ten seconds.

"And the third is I will always love you. No matter how often we'll argue, or how mad we might get at each other, you are still the girl I keep in my heart. I've fallen in love with you over the last four years, and for the next four hundred, I'll fall in love with you every time I see you enter the room."

She stops making sounds all together.

I pull her head back a bit and pull her mask off before leaning my forehead against hers. Her face is streaked with tears, her eyes red and puffy from crying, bags under them from a lack of sleep. She looks at my eyes, and I feel my heart drop when I see all the sadness.

"I promise, Tali..." I whisper while my own eyes start to tear up. "You don't need me to protect you anymore... You need me to be with you... So I promise... I'll be yours..."

She buries her face in my cheek, sobbing hysterically. They're not the same sad sobs like last time. They're happier. No, relieved. It's still a constant flood of emotion, but it's not a bad thing anymore. She's still not a hundred percent happy, but it's better...

I cry too while I hug her back. We just sit there and cry and cry... Maybe as just stress relief or a needed venting, but it feels good to cry, to really cry about anything and everything, for the first time in years...

Tali pulls her head back and kisses me as hard as she can. I surrender and kiss her back just as hard. She moans once, not out of pleasure, but relief.

After a few seconds, she comes off my lips and buries her head into my cheek again.

"I love you..." she whispers, voice still full of tears.

"I love you, too." I whisper back.

I keep kissing her on the side of her head, letting her know that I'm there.

After about ten minutes of sitting like that, I decide to ask her. "Tali?"

"Mmm?" she moans.

"About us getting married... You still want to?"

She's quiet for a second, leaving me wondering what she's thinking. Her body tensed up when I asked, but... I can't read her thoughts. Her forehead moves from my cheek to my forehead while she looks at me with those red and white eyes.

The little bit of joy in them tells me before the little grin on her mouth what she's about to say.

"Now more than ever..." she whispers.

I start laughing and hug her tighter. I don't know why this time is any different from the other two times, but... this one just feels final. Like this is the last time I'll ever have to ask her. She starts laughing too. She laughs so hard she shakes. We make so much noise Garrus starts to wake up. I have to shush her before we wake up the whole hospital. We don't stop, but we quiet down enough to not wake the slumbering Turian. I lose track of the time we spend laughing for no apparent reason.

"How should we tell the others?" she asks when she regains her breath. "We can't keep it a secret."

An idea immediately pops into my head. Take out a few birds with one stone... "I think I have a way we can tell everyone all at once."

"Why does that worry me a little?" she giggles.

"Relax, Tali. It'll just be a little dramatic for everyone else. But I want it to be a surprise, ok?"

"How do humans get married?" she asks softly. "I know a few details, but I don't know much about it."

"It's a really big long ceremony." I explain, still whispering in her ear. "We invite all of our closest friends and family to come. It'll be complicated with two completely different cultures marrying, but we can work it out later. The proposal is the big one first."

"That's where we tell everyone we're getting married?"

"It's usually where the man asks the woman to marry him. You've already agreed, but we can pretend it's the first time I asked."

"So what happens at a proposal? Besides us lying to our friends?"

"The man gets the attention of everybody in the room or wherever he is. Then he tells everybody why he loves the girl he's with. All of the little things about her, the way he feels. Then he gets down on one knee, pulls out a little ring, and asks the woman to marry him. If she agrees, he puts the ring on her finger, and everyone knows. The ring is a "taken" sign among humans. When they actually get married, the ring is usually replaced by a wedding band. And then they live happily ever after."

She giggles at my joke and gives me a quick kiss.


	4. An Old Flame and A Giant Roach

We sat and talked about weddings for another hour before we went to sleep. Tali promised she'd hold my hand until I fell asleep, then she'd crawl back onto the couch. When I woke up in the morning, she was there, so I believed her. I wonder how long she stayed after I fell asleep, though.

I got a few visits from the crew, along with the crazy teammates that couldn't join me on the Normandy. Wrex and Grunt damn near broke my arm with the hand shakes and hugs, Zaeed didn't go three sentences without saying "God-damned," and Kasumi still insisted on calling me Shep. But the talk with Tali had been the deepest talk I had the entire time.

Most of it had been "Good to see you're ok, get better, and we'll talk when you're up for it." Still nice to have someone come in every hour or so. It kept things moving along.

Against the doctor's orders, I made anybody I knew with high ranks send me casualty reports. He said I shouldn't be under stress, but I had to know...

I got most of the reports just after I got out of surgery for the skin grafts. Victus said the Turian fleet lost three-quarters of their fleet and over half of their land forces inside of the day of fighting for Earth. Almost seven hundred thousand men and women lost their lives... And that was just that their casualties.

Every fleet involved in the invasion gave up numbers similar. Asari lost just over five hundred thousand. Salarians, even with the diminished fleet they sent me because they were pissed about the genophage, lost three hundred thousand. Geth lost four hundred thousand bodies and six hundred thousand "identities" as the report described it. Quarians finally listened to me, at least, and kept the civilians out of the invasion fleet. They were medevacs and supply runners. Still lost just over two hundred thousand people, even without the land war involved.

Hackett wouldn't send me the human casualty list, but I went around him and had Traynor get into his comms and forward me some... Biggest mistake I've made in a long time...

Over four million Alliance marines were KIA. And that was just the invasion force. At least twenty million soldiers in North America died from Earth being taken to the Crucible being fired. The global soldier loss is well over a hundred million... and the civilian death count is simply listed as "too high to count."

Doc was right. I shouldn't have seen that list, all those people we lost... I didn't get a whole lot of sleep for four nights afterward. I spent most of it up, talking to Tali. She had seen most of the numbers herself, and was still trying to cope with her own loses... She lost just as many friends as I did. The fleet always called her, and she'd give her advice or speech to the troops over a vid-call. She said that... as much as her people needed her, I needed her more.

When she told me that, I would've given anything to go back to the Normandy, crawl into bed with her, and stay there for a few days. It didn't matter if we made love or not: I just wanted to forget the the world was wrong and focus on the best thing in it. She got me through it, though. She let me talk though everything for a while, let me vent... Gave me a shoulder to cry on... I had the same job for her the next night. We got through it somehow. I have a feeling I wouldn't have been able to without her...

Three days before I started physical therapy, I was cleared for visitors, meaning they could be in for more than five minutes at a time. I made a list on my omni-tool, who to see in which order the moment the doc cleared me.. All of the crew got first priority, then anyone who's either been in the crew or anyone who gave a lot of help. Reporters and usual fans get to wait for the press conference I'm planning. Hackett's the first after the crew. With the bomb I plan on dropping, and everything he's done, he deserves a little heads up.

So, all and all, the first up is... Ash.

She walks into the post surgery room at about noon, wearing Navy blues and her hair in a pony tail. I sit up from the bed with a clear head for the first time since I got to the hospital. They got me still hooked up to a few wireless vital monitors and some bandages under my hoody and sweats, but I have free reign to wheel around the hospital and walk around my room. Walking is slow, and the chair has to be electric (Doc's orders), but it's nice to get out of the bed. And in clothes that are mine.

"What's up with the dress blues, Lieutenant?" I chuckle lightly.

"The entire team's been interviewed hourly since the end of the war, Skipper. Garrus, Vega Joker, even all the crew who couldn't be with us for Earth. I wanted to look good for the camera, which is something you've never been terribly good at."

"I had some good interviews over the years."

"But you always looked like Hell. You can talk, but you can't look good while doing it." she chuckles.

"Well I'm sorry a flat top and goatee aren't exactly photogenic. I guess knocking out al-Jilani didn't help matters." I joke.

We both laugh for a few seconds before Ash gets serious again.

"I know you didn't invite me here to joke about our looks, Aaron. What's this about?"

I walk over to the windows and roll down the blinds so no one can see in. "I uh... I just wanted to talk for a minute or two."

"I'm listening." she says, a little nervously, a little curiously.

"I wanted to set the record straight. About us..."

I sigh a little, trying to think of the right words to say. The plan I had just disappeared and flew out the window.

"I'm not asking you to take me back, and I'm not leaving Tali. It's just... I want to figure out where we stand, Ash. You were a hell of a friend on the SSV, still a damn good one during the war, and a lover I don't regret for a second. I... What do you want to do?"

She has the same look of confusion and thought I had when I was trying to think of what to say. She runs her hand through her hair while looking at the ground. After a little bit, she looks up and starts talking.

"I don't regret what happened between us either, Skipper. I still remember our talks and our night before Ilos. I was happy with that, and I'm still happy when I think about it. What I told you on Horizon all those years ago, I did mean that. Not the being angry at you, but that I loved you on the Normandy. I still care a lot about you."

She sighs/smirks before she keeps going.

"When I heard about you and Tali, I was ready to kill you both. I had my rifle ready and my armor on. I was one trigger pull from drilling you between the eyes and then her in the next heartbeat. I know you were torn on the Citadel when I was at the hospital, but it wasn't helping me being angry with you...

"You know what finally got me to stop wanting to kill you? I saw the you guys together. I mean, the moment I saw the two of you, I reached for my rifle, but when I didn't get it... I looked at the two of you while you ate lunch in the mess. You sat next to her with your food finished while she kept working on hers. You talked to her for over half an hour while she ate. Then you talked there for almost an hour... I saw how you looked at her, that look in your eye... Then her body language while you talked to her and held her hand and...

"I knew you loved her. It was obvious to everybody, but especially me. And after I listened to her talk about you, I knew she did too. That... I hated that just as much but... I remembered the way you used to look at me and how you acted and... You never were in love with me like you are with her...

"As much as I hated losing you Aaron, and as much as I like Tali, to an alien... You were and still are happier with her than you can ever be with me. So... I decided to let you go."

She sighs and turns away from me.

"I'll miss those days with you. I will for a while and probably read some more poetry like I did when you died. But before I fell in love with you, you were my friend, Skipper. And if we can, I still want to be..."

I lay a hand on her shoulder and walk around to in front of her. She's not on the verge of tears, but her depression is almost an aura around her...

"Hey..." I say softly, finally getting her to look up at me."Think we can still be friends, Ash? I'll need somebody to have a few drinks with and get some relationship advice from when I screw something up."

It earns me a bit of a chuckle and a smile.

"Sure... I'd like that."

She moves her arms under mine and gives me a hug. I give her a hug back. Not as closely as I have when we were together or like I do to Tali, but still a hug.

"Thanks..." I mutter. "For the record, Ash, there are two things I'm sorry about. I'm sorry things didn't work out between us, and I'm sorry I had to choose someone besides you. But... I don't regret choosing Tali... Is that fair?"

"I know, Aaron..." she sighs. "Thank you for being honest with me..."

"I have a deal in mind. Just to set the record straight, get everything squared away."

"What deal?"

"We have one last hug and we start over as friends. Just like we did before we started the whole flirting thing on the Normandy. And we keep in touch from there. That sound reasonable?"

She chuckles a little again and pulls her head back from mine.

"That sounds more than reasonable, O Captain, my Captain."

"Good. Means I don't have to pull rank on you."

We hug for just a few seconds. It's not a hug like "I love you." It's more like... "Thanks for everything." It feels good to finally get this thing sorted out between us.

We let go of each other when we're done.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant Williams. I'm Commander Shepard." I joke.

Ash laughs, batting a little bit of hair out of her eyes.

"It will be an honor to serve under you, Commander."

She offers a hand shake that I take, then we salute each other. It takes all of our will power not to bust up laughing again.

"Thanks." she says. "I'll see you later, Skipper."

She starts walking out the door.

"See you later, hellcat." I joke. That's the last time I'll ever be able to call her something like that. Come to think of it, it's also the first.

She gives one more chuckle as she leaves.

The moment she gets out the door, she draws a pistol I didn't know she had and points it at the scream of some woman in the hallway. I rush out the door and, somehow without falling over myself, get a view of what all the commotion's about.

There's a rachni worker standing in the middle of the waiting room. His/her tendrils are wandering the air aimlessly, pointing at people for a second before resuming their search. When they point at me, though, they stay locked on as it slowly walks towards me. Ash keeps her weapon trained on the bug. I just stand there like a moron. Hackett said they were being nice and cooperative, and I let the queen live, so it should be friendly... I hope.

It stops just in front of me and bows it front legs, like a horse at a circus. It doesn't say anything, but I don't think they're capable of talking in the first place. But what the hell is going on?

"I don't suppose we have a coma patient within grabbing distance, is there?" I question to all the nurses in the room, who are pressed against the walls in fear.

A new scream sounds behind me, followed by the thunk of a body hitting the ground. The same nurse who's been checking on me for the last three weeks just passed out when she saw the car-sized cockroach in the middle of the room. If she saw the thing spit acid like it did on Noveria, she'd have passed out faster.

Her body stands up slowly, now under control of the rachni. Ash trains the pistol on the bug's head, but I make her lower it.

"We offer no hostilities." the nurse's disembodied voice says, the same voice that's spoken to me three times over the last four years. "We merely wish to speak to you, Commander."

"You might want to rethink how you do that next time." I say sarcastically. "Since when have the workers been able to control people?"

"They can not. If you will follow, we shall explain." It waves one tendril towards the stairs.

"Give me a second. I need to take my chair." I surrender. Why do I have a bad feeling about this?

I walk back into my room, sit in my electric wheel chair, and slowly roll out to the waiting room.

"Which floor?"

"Go to the front door." the nurse says before collapsing to the ground.

I take the elevator and arrive to the ground floor in a minute. The rachni decided on taking the stairs. Judging by the screams, it was keeping pace with the elevator. At least it didn't just crawl out the window and down the wall. It meets me at the front door, standing there patiently.

"Ok, what's next?" I ask.

It simply waves a tendril towards the door, like a person signaling with their hand.

It crawls out the door, and I follow to the pressure sealed garden. There's some kind of weird dome around the hospital, like the emergency barriers on a ship during a breach, that keeps the air in. It lets solid objects in, though, so sandstorms can come in...

Along with the queen rachni standing in the middle of a grass patch. Holy shit, it got even bigger from last time. It couldn't even fit in the damn shuttle bay on the Normandy. There's an obviously controlled doctor standing next to her, ready to talk.

"What in _the HELL_ are you doing here?!" I ask/shout. "How'd you even get here?"

"We had our own ship." she answers immediately. "Your soldiers gave us protection on our trip, but would not leave their ships. We believe they are afraid of us."

"I can't say I blame them."

"You wish to know why we came."

"That'd be nice to know, yeah." I nod. "Any reason besides scaring the living hell out of everyone on Mars?"

"We wished to thank you for sparing us, Commander." she says, herself bowing like the worker did earlier. "Few organics would have done the same in your position. And we wish to thank you for defeating the machines. We knew it would be you to end the sour note that stole our children from us."

"Thanks for helping with the Crucible. We needed it, and I hear your workers were perfect for the job."

"We were happy to aid you. As a way of thanking you, and a way of defeating the machines. We learned a great deal, even about other species. Your kind do not communicate as much as we."

"I'm pretty sure that was more "everyone scared out of their mind" than anything else."

She stands up and returns to her usual stance: taller than everything else in the room.

"We believe so. But thank you, Commander. Your kindness will never be forgotten, and we will not risk violence again. We wish to be a part of your community."

"You mean join the Council? Whenever we rebuild it and get some semblance of order in the galaxy again?"

"If that is how we join, yes. We do not want to tempt fate again. We wish to rebuild to what we once were, and to coexist in a harmony with your kind."

"That's... not a bad idea. It will take some work to get everyone to trust you guys again, but I think there's a decent chance. What do you plan on doing now?"

"We will go back to our home, burrow deep into the rock and ground to raise more children. We will leave some to keep our presence known and sing with the other races. We will not make the mistakes our mothers made."

"Good for you. I think the rachni deserve a second chance."

"Thank you, Commander. We wish to return home now. We fear the other humans may panic if we stay."

I turn around and see all of hospital security pointing rifles at the queen while still hiding behind the doors, walls, and anything else they can find.

"Yeah... That's probably a good idea. Stay safe on your trip. And try not to aggravate any krogan on the way."

It laughs a little, I think. Some weird sound comes from the queen itself instead of the host.

"As you wish. Thank you again. We will see you again."

"Just warn me next time so I can have everyone relatively calm."

Both the queen and the worker turn away, walking out of the dome to what I assume is a rachni ship. It doesn't look like any other ship I've seen, and it's guarded by three Alliance fighters and a frigate. Kinda hoped she was kidding about that.

The possessed doctor falls to the ground when the queen reaches her ship, and the staff rush to check him.


	5. Secrets

About an hour after Ash and the queen left, Garrus finally found time to come up and accept my invitation. He came in wearing what passes for casual wear for Turians: a pair of something close to denim jeans, a dark blue t-shirt with his clan insignia on it, and boots. It's about the third I've seen his arms without something covering them, now that I think about it. He's always worn his armor or this one sweat suit, I think it was. His visor's gone, too. Casual Friday, I guess. His arms have skin slightly rougher than his face. No, more grooved would probably be the word.

"It's about time I saw you up and walking." Garrus chuckles when I stand up to greet him. "I was starting to think I'd have to carry you everywhere."

"I'd shoot myself before I let myself be babied by you for the rest of my life." I laugh, giving my best friend a one-armed hug. "How you been holding up, Garrus?"

He shrugs his shoulders. "Well, I've been doing this and that. The Primarch needed some help organizing what's left of the fleet and ground forces, so I've been helping him with that, along with search parties for wounded and anything else he needs me for. I've spent most of my time telling stories to your marines. Apparently, a Turian C-Sec officer turned vigilante turned task force commander who's spent the last four years helping the great Commander Shepard fight the Reapers gains a lot of attention."

"I imagine. That's the only good thing about being stuck in a hospital room: they can't get to me here. But it hasn't stopped them from sending me notes, emails, and small gifts."

I bring out my omni-tool and open my email account. Garrus sees the number of new messages and his jaw actually drops.

"Wow. Seven hundred messages?"

"That's only in the last _hour_, Garrus. I don't know how my email address became public, but I've received over twenty thousand since word got out I survived. That's not including the thousand physical "thank you" notes, three hundred flower vases, two hundred cases of beer, and at least fifty bottles of wine and champagne from every known sapient race, along with a few I didn't know."

Garrus and I both start laughing at the absurdity of it.

"Solana sent me a message they're getting the same thing back home for me. I thought she was joking."

"Everyone on our crew keeps telling me the same thing. Whoever they have at home keeps getting massive amounts of messages and gifts. Jacob, Wrex, Liara, even Samara's daughter, Falere. We've become quite popular."

"I'll say." he laughs. "It's almost too much to believe."

"Coming from the man who's seen the Collector base, a living Prothean, the rachni queen, the mother of all thresher maws, and our cycle beat the Reapers."

"Aren't you the human commander who killed a rogue Spectre, four Reapers, a proto-reaper, and the leader of Cerberus?"

"And I couldn't have done a bit of that without you covering my ass."

"And I would have been dead on Omega if it wasn't for you pulling me out of that fire and giving me all these pretty scars."

We both start laughing again. It goes on for almost a minute before we both stop.

"You've been the closest thing to a brother I've ever had, Garrus." I lay my hand on his shoulder. "I mean that."

"I might have grown a little fond of you, too." he chuckles lightly, putting his hand on my shoulder. "I could have used you in my house growing up, helping to keep me in check."

"I think it would've been the other way around. We were the tacticians of the team, but I was more hot-headed."

"Tali encouraged both of us to be reckless. Our little trio probably caused more hell than we'll ever realize."

"Can you imagine what the insurance companies thought after our rampage though Illium? Dantius towers, gone. Eclipse hideout, gone. An entire shipping depot torn to shreds by sniper rifle and shotgun rounds."

"Don't forget the combat drone electrocuting everything, incinerates burning anything that moved, and concussive rounds launching everything into the ceiling."

"All to save an assassin, a justicar, and a teenage girl. Imagine what would've happened if they managed to piss us off."

"I'm glad Cerberus footed that bill."

We both chuckle a bit.

"What do you plan on doing when this is all over? I mean, when the dust is done settling and there's some semblance of order again in the galaxy, I don't see either of us hiding in the middle of nowhere, doing nothing but drinking ourselves blind."

"I'm thinking of going back to Palaven and joining the fleet again as a trainer and adviser. We'll need someone to help with the new recruits that replace the lost. I can get some payment from vid deals and get someplace nice for my father and Solana. I won't just sit down and die, but I won't work nearly as hard as we have for the last few years. What about you?"

"Retire and work part time as a trainer like you. Not on Palaven, though. Make a few vid and book deals, take the cash, and build a nice little house where no one can bother me if I don't want them to."

He gets this slight grin on his face and chuckles under his breath. "I think you're forgetting to tell me the most important part of that plan."

There's no way... Does he?

"Spill, Vakarian. What do you know?"

He laughs and leans back on the wall. "You didn't really think I was asleep, did you?"

I laugh harder and punch him on the gut. "You bastard. You didn't help me when I fell, _and _you eavesdropped on me!"

"Tali had it covered already, and a little fall wasn't about to kill you. I doubt that you would have been so talkative to me."

"Doesn't make you any less of a pain in my ass."

He shrugs again. "Ah well. I learned a few things about you in the process."

He gets off the wall and walks towards me a hair. "So... The two of you are serious about this? You're actually going to get married?"

I feel my cheeks start to turn red a bit. It's almost embarrassing to admit. I don't regret it, and I'm not ashamed of it, but it's like telling your parents you're having sex: just awkward.

"Yeah... You have no idea how good it feels, Garrus. I mean just..." I run out of words.

"So when did you plan on telling the rest of us? And last I checked, humans give their spouses a ring when they get married. I know you'll go over the top with that, like you always do with Tali."

I laugh and rub the back of my head. "I planned on proposing to her during the press conference the day I get out of here. Figured I could do that, make it official for everyone, then get out of the hospital and spend the first night on the Normandy with my fiancee. I... I want to make it special. She deserves that. More than that."

I open up a small dresser next to my bed and pull out the ring box. I make sure all of the blinds are closed before I show the box to Garrus. When I open it, his eyes almost jump out of their sockets.

It looks fairly close to a human engagement ring: a thin gold band with a larger gem on top. The gem is a sapphire, her birth stone, and is bigger than the end of my pinkie. The poor owner almost passed out when I told him I wanted it on it: it's worth more than my Black Widow.

The band is a quarter-inch wide and pure gold. Instead of just plain gold, though, there's an inscription running around the side. In Keelish, which looks like a strange cross between Japanese kanji signs and English cursive, there's a scrawling vow. Tali told me there's this vow Quarians always have spouses say to each other during their wedding, the Quarian equivalent of "til death do us part." I had the designers put it on.

Inside the band, there's a special engraving. "To my baby girl. I love you, Tali."

"Wow..." Garrus says under his breath. "I didn't doubt you, but wow..."

"Yeah... It cost one million credits all together. It's worth every cent."

He laughs, shaking his head. "You are completely out of your mind."

"And I wasn't before?" I chuckle. "Promise me you won't tell her about the ring or the plan. It has to be a surprise."

Garrus just smiles a little more. "My lips are sealed, Commander."

I sigh, running my hand across my face. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you when I asked her to marry me the first time. If I should have told anyone, it should have been you."

"It's water under the bridge, Aaron. As long as you tell me when you asked her."

"You know how we said we were going to get some sleep after killing Kai Leng? There wasn't a whole lot of sleeping."

He laughs again. "I can't believe I didn't see it before. That's why she was so distracted before we landed on Earth."

"Well, you were never really good at reading Tali anyway." I shrug. "I think I have something to make up for not telling you."

"You'd better not propose to me, too."

We both laugh before I keep going. "Humans have this thing we do during weddings. The groom, or the husband, has his best friend stand with him during the ceremony. He's called the best man. I was hoping... you'd be my best man."

He puts one hand on my shoulder. "No problem." he grins. "I wouldn't miss it."

"Thanks, Garrus. For everything... You crazy dumb ass."

We're laughing like crazy when we hug again. How the hell the two of us became best friends, I have no idea. It's still insane, but I'm glad a few good things came out of all the shit we've been through the last four years.

"As much as I love man hugs, I still have some work to do." he finally laughs when he lets go. "I'll make sure to pop in and give you a little hell about this before you propose."

"Sure, Garrus. I'll see you later."

"I'm a message away, Aaron."

He turns away and heads out the door. I shake my head and still chuckle a bit. He's one-in-a-million. I'm glad I ran into him on the Citadel... I don't think I would've survived any of this without him.

"All right, come on out." I say out loud, feeling a little feisty. "Don't pretend you're not here."

The room stays quiet and unmoving. "Last warning." Again, nothing.

I sigh as I throw a sabotage in the corner at a strange shadow that no one would've noticed besides me. The shadow turns into a blue, human shaped figure before letting out a static crack and becoming Kasumi, dressed just like the day I met her.

"You're no fun!" she protests as she walks towards me. "Now I have to fix my cloak."

"I gave you two warnings." I shrug.

"One of these days, you'll have to tell me how you do that."

"Little trick I learned when we were on Haestrom, with those damn hunters. Watch for a slight distortion, almost like that slight aura biotics always have around them. Worked with hunters, phantoms, and even you."

"Hmm..." she mutters. "I'll have to remember that. I always have to overload them so they won't move. It works with that Locust you gave me."

"Sabotage works occasionally. Usually stuns them, makes the weapons backfire. A smoking pistol is a decent target."

"I'd heard that, but I never tried it. It was more fun to use flash bangs."

"So what have you been doing besides spying on me constantly?" I chuckle.

"Oh, this and that." she shrugs like I did. "I've been wandering around, doing procurements for people who need something in particular. Apart from that, all I've really done is talk with Tali."

"You two are friends?"

"We're closer than that. We're almost like you and Garrus. How did you think I knew she loved you back before the Collector mission?"

"I figured you were spying on everybody, and we were the most interesting on the ship."

"Well, I did a little of that, too. But Tali's like a little sister to me. I was the only girl she could talk to. She didn't like Miranda or Jack, which I don't blame her for. Kelly was creepy happy all the time, and you couldn't have a real talk with Samara about anything. We just bonded."

"Now I get to spend the next few days trying to figure out how I missed all that."

"You're a man, Shep: you don't notice these things."

"Gee, thanks."

We both at my expense. Like I care anymore.

"So how much have you been watching me? I can assume you know just as much as Garrus, if not more? Don't think I haven't noticed the strange shadow that tends to be here during sensitive moments."

"I wouldn't be a very good thief if I didn't know more than everyone else, would I?" she chuckles. "I saw you talking to the nurse about the ring, that night when you and Tali had your moment, you picking out that ring and writing down the engraving. You know I could have found a ring just as good for free."

"I know, but it wouldn't have been the same. And a quarter of those credits came from Cerberus funds I stole when I worked for them. Another tenth was what I grabbed from their bases during the war. Another quarter was Alliance funding they gave me. All our weapons were already perfect. Only a hundred thousand was unpaid when it was done, and they took a bunch of the gifts I got as payment."

"You are the only person I know who gives out a hundred thousand credits in free liquor."

"Better than debt, and I don't feel like suffering through alcohol poisoning."

She laughs a little, still keeping her hood down. "I also saw you and Ashley have your talk. I'm a little surprised at you, Shep."

"About what?"

"Not you and her having a thing: I understand. You're so alike, it was bound to happen. I'm surprised you didn't have that talk with her until now."

I sigh and drop my head. "Not exactly my proudest moment. We didn't get any chance to talk until she was back on the Normandy, and by then, I was so wrapped up in Rannoch, in Tali that I... It just slipped my mind. There's no excuse for it."

She pats me on the back. "I'm not blaming you. And you made it up to her with that talk. I'm glad it's taken care of."

"Me too." I say, picking my head up. "Thanks."

"You might take that back when I tell you that I told Tali."

"What?" Oh, shit. I was going to tell her tonight, when she always comes up to visit.

"I'm sorry. She's like my little sister. I couldn't not tell her."

"I know, I know. It's just... Aw, shit. I got to get ahead of this now."

"I'm sorry, Shep."

"No, Kasumi. I understand completely. It's that I planned on telling her that tonight, and I need to make sure she doesn't think something's wrong. Where is she?"

"She's probably still in the lunch room on the bottom floor."

I turn around and head out the door as fast as my legs carry me. I push more than a few nurses out of the way in my shaking, falling sprint downstairs. The hand rails are the only things that keep me from busting my head open on the ground.

By the time I get to the bottom floor, my omni-tool beeps. Kasumi sent me a file. "Sorry. Maybe this will help." There's a video attached. When I get to the lunch room, I stop just long enough to look at it. It's a recording of my meeting with Ashley. Ok, I can use that.

I find Tali sitting in the middle of the room, playing with her food with her fork. I rush over and sit next to her. "Tali." I half-shout, getting her attention.

Her head snaps out of a trance and faces me. She looks at me, then lowers her head back to her food. "Hey." she mutters half-heartedly.

I try to put my arm on her shoulder, but she shrugs it off. "Tali, please... can we talk for a second?"

"What's there to talk about? Didn't you do all your talking with _Ashley_?" she says, angrily putting an emphasis on her name and still keeping her head down.

"Look, Tali, I..." I stutter, trying to find the words. "What did Kasumi tell you?"

She slams her fork down and glares back at me. "She told me that you spent almost half an hour talking to her. That you told her you still regretted choosing someone else. That you hugged her and whispered in her ear... That you two almost kissed..." She quits glaring and moves her head down again.

"She's not lying, Tali. But she didn't tell you the whole story. Look, I..." I throw my hands into the air. "I asked Ashley to come up there so we could talk, yes. We never really talked about what was going on between us. And I don't mean romantically. I mean just as friends. She took us being together really hard and... I wanted to set the record straight about what would happen between the two of us. And that's what I did."

She doesn't even bother picking her head up and looking at me. "So what did you tell her? That you loved her? That you wanted to abandon me and go back to her arms?" Her voice is breaking and she's starting to cry now.

"No, never... I told her that I wasn't going to leave you and I still wanted to be friends with her. I can prove it, Tali. Kasumi taped the whole thing."

I open Kasumi's message and start playing the video. Tali ignores it for the first few seconds, but she starts to listen when I say I won't leave Tali. When she hears that, she rewinds it back to the beginning and watches it all the way through. I try to read her body language while she looks at the tiny screen, but I can't pick out enough to figure out what she's thinking. She tenses up when Ash hugs me, but she relaxes a little when I say I don't regret choosing Tali.

The video cuts off just after Ash says goodbye. It doesn't show my hellcat joke or the rachni. I'll have to thank Kasumi for that later. Tali sits there and looks at the screen for a few seconds, just watching the replay button. She doesn't move or say anything...

I close my omni-tool and lean closer to Tali. "I meant that, baby girl." I whisper. "Ash is still a friend, and I still care about her, but like I care about Mordin or Samara. I'm sorry I had to hurt her... but I've never been sorry that I chose you over everybody else... I love you... You're the only one I've ever loved... And I'm sorry I hurt you."

I try to hug her, but she beats me to it and buries her head into my shoulder. I rub my hand down her back, trying to comfort her. "Why didn't you just tell me that's what you were doing?" she whispers, voice still a little broken. "It wouldn't have been so bad if I heard it from you."

"I was going to tell you tonight." I whisper. "I wanted to know how things were going to work out between us before I said anything. That was a mistake, and it's not one I'm going to make again."

I kiss her head through the hood and the helmet. She sobs once before pulling her head back.

"I'm sorry I overreacted." she mutters. "I can't think of losing you."

"I'm sorry I hurt you. And I can't think of losing you either."

She leans her forehead against mine. "I love you, Aaron."

"I love you too, Tali. I promise..." I slide one hand behind her neck, under her hood. "Are we going to be ok?"

She nods her head. "We will. Do you forgive me?"

"I was never angry... The moment Kasumi told me she told you, I rushed down here to make sure you were ok. I don't need to forgive you."

"Thank you."

We hug as hard as we can, trying to make it up to each other. We stay there for at least ten minutes, before both of our omni-tools beep simultaneously. They have the same message from Kasumi. "Sorry for the misunderstanding, and sorry for causing the fight. Look on Shep's bed for a make-up present." Tali helps me back up to my room so we could relax and see what our present was.

Sitting in the middle of my bed is a large box, gift wrapped with a giant bow on top. Inside are a pair of his and hers Savant omni-tools, his and hers Paladin pistols, a new envirosuit for Tali, and a pair of Oakley sunglasses for me. The obvious his and hers hint is one pistol is bright pink with rainbows and butterflies, while the other is black with a silver and dark blue trim. The omni-tools have a similar mod: mine's basic orange while Tali's is hot pink. Guess that's one plus of being a friend of the best thief in the galaxy. I don't even want to know where she got these things.

Kasumi's crowning achievement, however, less obvious until it hits me. While I install my new tool, Tali examines her new suit. It's close to the one she has, but has a white trim around the purple fabric. Then, both of our gifts start playing music at the same time. "Still." Tali recognizes it the same second I do, letting off a soft giggle. How did Kasumi know?... Maybe Tali told her...

Tali lays her gift on my bed while I close mine just before we hug again. She takes her mask off and kisses me on the cheek. "I think Kasumi is trying to tell us something..." she whispers.

"Do you have any idea how bad I want to be back on the Normandy right now?" I chuckle. "Waiting sucks."

"If you really wanted to, we could..." she mutters with a hair of uncertainty in her voice. "If it's hurting you that bad."

"Are you offering because you want to? Or just because I want to?..." I ask softly, trying to show my concern.

"I'm offering because I want to make up to you, and because you want to..." Her eyes droop down.

"You don't, do you?" I run my hand down her face and behind her neck. "Just tell me..."

She sighs. "No. I don't. The room isn't sterile enough for much more besides the mask. We always could outside the suit, but..." She loses her voice.

"Then we won't, baby girl." I whisper, kissing her on her forehead. "I won't jeopardize us for some stupid want that you don't. I love you too much to do that."

She tightens her hug around me before bringing her lips to mine. "Thank you."

"I told you a year ago, Tali: You don't have to prove anything to me. I will wait until we're back on the Normandy, and you're ready. Deal?"

She kisses me again and presses her cheek into mine. "Deal."

* * *

If you didn't read "A Surprise Question" and don't know the song, it's by Matt Nathanson.


	6. More Than One Complicated Relationship

My first week in therapy, finally free to walk around without monitors and most of my bandages, Jack sent me a message saying she could come up and visit with her students. In her usual fashion, she offered no excuse or apology for ignoring my messages. I had to clear it with the nurses, since I wasn't supposed to have more than three people visiting me at once. These people are more over-protective than I am. But, after talking to four separate people and filling out seven pages of waivers, I got the go-ahead.

She came marching in like she owned the hospital, a dozen teenage biotics in tow behind her. Still had the weird as hell clothing and haircut. I didn't recruit her for her fashion sense. I knew they wouldn't fit in my bunk room, so the meeting had to be in the waiting room.

"It's about time, King of the Boy Scouts." she laughs out loud, stopping just in front of me. "I was starting to think you'd never be on your feet again."

"If you'd accepted my invitation two weeks ago, you wouldn't have had to wait." I chuckle. I give her a punch in the arm, which she returns twice as hard. "What took you so long to get up here?"

"My kids got search duty, looking for survivors. We can move rubble way faster than those fu-..." Her voice goes from loud and raucous to muttering. "...the damn cranes can get there."

I have to laugh at that. "Sanders still got you on that leash, Jack?"

"That bitch can think she can control me all she wants. I play along for the nice bonus in my paycheck." she smirks.

I chuckle and look past her to her students. "Has your teacher been a bad influence on you children?"

Rodriguez chimes in first with a childish voice. "She taught me some new words, Commander. What does "fucking asshole" mean?"

Everyone in the room busts up laughing. "That was the nice version of what she yelled when we landed." one of the other students shouts. "I will never piss off my teacher again."

"Oh? Is there a story you want to tell me, Jack?" I give her a fake scorn.

"Let's just say that banshee bitch got what was coming." she says, daring me to egg her on.

"Kids?" I ask, hoping to avoid her wrath and still learn what happened.

"Rodriguez was grabbed by a banshee and was almost impaled on her hand." another kid says. "Jack hit her so hard its head came off!"

"Not bad." I shrug, looking back at Jack. "You ever tell your kids about your prison break when we met?"

"NO!" they all shout at once. "Tell us!"

"Fine. Damn..." she surrenders. "I didn't tell them because Sanders doesn't know I was jail in the first place."

"She won't care." I chuckle. "Ok, kids. The first time I met your teacher, I was recruiting a team to go fight the Collectors. I needed a biotic who could destroy almost anything, so I set up a deal with a prison called Purgatory. They agreed to give me her for a fee. I paid up, and Grunt, me, and Garrus went on the ship to get her, knowing nothing other than we were getting a criminal and an insanely powerful biotic. Fun fact: your teacher is the only one the prison warden was ever afraid of."

All of the students laugh, including Jack. "So, five minutes later, the warden double crosses us and tries to capture us. We fight our way out and get to the prison control room. Jack was locked in cryo-containment and had been for a few months now. We open her cell and every cell in the prison to give us a distraction. Out of the floor rises this skinny little tattooed, shaved head chick with nothing on but a bra and cargo pants. Garrus said the thing we were all thinking: "that's Jack?""

Everyone laughs when I open up my omni-tool and show the picture of what she looked like coming out of cryo. Except for Jack. She lifts me off the ground a few inches with her biotics to remind me she can kill me.

"Ok, ok, I get it. No more jokes. Put me down." I say, throwing up my hands in the air innocently. It earns me a smile and puts me down. "Thank you. How many of you kids remember the old YMIR mechs?"

A few hands go up, and they quickly explain what they are to their friends. "Jack's cell was guarded by four of these things. The first thing she does is charge straight at these things with nothing but her fists. I run down to the room as fast as I can, expecting her to be dead. In under thirty seconds, she killed three and used the fourth as a battering ram to destroy a steel wall and escape."

"Ooohhs" and "Awws" quickly follow. "Hang on." I laugh. "We follow the hole she made, trying to catch her. The next cell block, which she got through just as fast as the mechs, is _on fire!_ I mean, literally, the entire metal cell block was flaming! Pieces of the ceiling were crashing down, bodies everywhere, the place looked like someone nuked it. Grunt just looks at all of this and says: "I like this human!""

The laughter and applause become deafening immediately. Jack gets this sadistic little smirk on her face. "Bitches never saw that coming." The laughter rattle the windows.

After five minutes, they finally calm down enough to talk to again. "Kids, let that be a lesson: never piss off your teacher." I chuckle one last time. "It's good to see you again, Jack."

"It's good to see you, too." she surrenders with a smile. "My kids were happy when they heard you were alive. I wasn't surprised, boy scout."

"Oh, you still had that much faith in your old commander?" I grin.

"Nah. I knew that if you were going to die, you would have made the explosion bigger." she smirks again. Everyone laughs again, but lighter. "I owe a lot, Shepard. You got me out of Purgatory. You helped me blow my old cell to hell. You kept me alive through the Collector base, and you helped save my kids. Thanks for everything."

She turns around and looks at her students. "Close your eyes, and cover your ears, kids." They all obey immediately, chuckling slightly. Then she turns back to me.

She leans forward and kisses me out of nowhere. She doesn't try to tongue me, but it doesn't stop her from pulling my head to hers. She pulls her head back and looks me straight in the eye. "That's my thank you." she says with a completely straight face and voice.

Then she slaps me hard across the face. "That's so you know it doesn't mean a fucking thing. You try anything with me, I will cut your fucking balls off." I stand there for a second with a look of sheer confusion on my face. I'm still in shock from the kiss. What the hell!?

"Don't you ever fucking forget it." she glares like she wants to kill me... Which wouldn't surprise me.

"I have absolutely no intention of that, Jack. Tali's the only who's getting me." I manage to say.

"Good boy." she laughs, reverting back to her old self and patting me on the face. "All right, kids! Open 'em!"

Her students move their hands and open their eyes. "No. You don't want to know." I say when they look at my dark red cheek and stunned look in my eye. They chuckle and immediately whisper amongst themselves, wondering what Jack did.

"Come on, guys! It's time for those inks I promised!" Jack says, leading her group out the door. "See you at the press conference, boy scout." I wave them off before retreating to my room.

"Nurse, can you bring me an ice pack?" I ask the intercom as I sit down.

"Certainly, Commander. You also have more guests on their way to see you." a voice answers. "A Miss Miranda Lawson, Mr Jacob Taylor, and Miss Brynn Cole."

"Send them in with the ice pack, please." I say, rubbing my sore jaw. Girl packs a punch.

Two minutes later, the trio and a nurse walk in together. Miranda leads, as always, while Jacob and Brynn follow. The nurse sidesteps the couple and hands me the ice pack before retreating out the door.

"Lady troubles, Shepard?" Jacob asks.

"Jack came to visit. Enough said." I say, pressing the ice pack against my jaw.

"There's an understatement." Miranda retorts.

"Is that the crazy woman you mentioned, Jacob?" Brynn asks.

"Which one?" I interject. "Last I checked, they're all out of their minds."

Everyone chuckles, making my jaw hurt more.

"I'm serious. We didn't have one sane woman on that ship. Ever."

"What about Kasumi?" Jacob asks.

"You mean the kleptomaniac who was obsessed with you, Jacob?" Miranda says.

"I'll give you that one." he answers with a grin. "What about Tali?"

"Tali fell in love with me, so she's clearly not in the right state of mind."

Another round of chuckles.

"I don't know, Commander. You can be quite charming." Miranda says. "Now are going to do something besides debate our sanity?"

"I just wanted to see you guys." I say. "See how everyone was holding up. I need to do something before I lose my mind from confinement."

"I'm trying to get used to the idea of being a father." Jacob shrugs. "I know what kind of father I want to be, and who I will be, but I'm still not used to the concept."

"You'll be perfect, Jacob." Brynn says before leaning in and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "You're already loving to me." Jacob gets a smile across his face I've never seen before. Man really did fall in love with her.

"Do we need to give the two of you some privacy?" Miranda says, sarcasm more than obvious. Jacob and Brynn quit being lovey dovey for the moment. "I've been keeping myself busy, trying to prove myself to your marines. They still don't entirely trust me."

"I understand their distrust. Cerberus was hated before the war. Their campaign against everyone certainly didn't help their reputation."

"I didn't say I didn't understand them. I simply mean it's been rather hard proving that I won't shoot them in the back." she shrugs honestly. "But helping you with the Collectors and the Cerberus intel I've given has helped my standing."

"That's good." I say. "You guys have any idea what you'll do when the dust is done settling?"

"I'm going to stay in the Alliance." Brynn says. "They have some good people, and they need some more in the research department."

"Since Brynn's staying, so am I." Jacob declares. "I'm sure they could use another guard wherever she's working."

"I'm thinking of bringing Oriana here to stay with me." Miranda says, a hair of uncertainty in her voice. "I need to look after her. And with my father gone, we can stop hiding."

"The magnificent Miranda Lawson, not sure of a plan yet?" I ask sarcastically.

"I am only human, Shepard. I may be close to perfect, but I'm not quite there."

"I think that's the first time I've heard you admit that." Jacob chuckles. "Where did that come from?"

"Fighting half of the galaxy to rescue my sister made me realize how... human I was." she shrugs slowly. This is really the first time I've seen her doubt herself. That's a real shock, coming from Miranda.

"If you don't account for all of the mistakes you make and the stupid stunts you pull, you forget who you really are." I say.

"Very astute, Commander." Miranda says.

"I couldn't have said it better myself." Jacob injects. "And it's about time you made that connection, Miranda."

"It's always better late than never." Brynn chimes in.

"Yeah..." I rub my jaw. "Look, guys. There's something I want to get off my chest. Just something I should've told you before."

All three of them look at me curiously and expectantly. "Miranda, Jacob... I honestly really didn't like you guys when we first met. I mean past the shoot out on Lazarus station. For those first few weeks on the Normandy, all I wanted to do was find a way to get you off the ship. Miranda, you constantly second-guessing me, telling me to do something differently, doubting me all the time... It really wore on me. And Jacob, you were a decent guy, and I respected your honesty. But I could never really make myself like you. Being Cerberus didn't help matters.

"I'll admit that I still don't really consider us truly friends. Colleagues, teammates, maybe some story and drinking buddies, but opening up and telling secrets to friends? Not quite. And I'm sorry to say that. I respect you both immensely, and you two are both decent people. I wish we were better friends."

They all watch me for a few moments when I finish, as if waiting for something more. Jacob's first to speak. "You think we didn't catch that, Shepard?" he asks half-jokingly. "Come on. We could tell. You spent more time talking to the lab-bred krogan than you did with both of us combined."

Miranda smiles and follows. "Jacob is right. I knew you wouldn't trust me after our first talk on the Normandy. It doesn't surprise me that you still aren't fond of us. But it is nice to hear you admit it."

"Yeah, I'm... I am sorry we aren't better friends." I say. "But it means a lot to me you had my back when we hit Earth."

"I wasn't about to miss a chance to get some payback against the bastards." Jacob chuckles. "And after all the shit we went through at the base, I wouldn't abandon you."

"You're honest, Shepard. I admire that." Miranda says.

"Maybe we all can meet for drinks after I get out of here. See if we can fix this problem." I suggest, trying to lighten things up again.

"As long as Jacob is home before curfew, he can go out." Brynn teases, prompting him to give her a hug.

"Maybe we can." Miranda smiles. "I'm sure you're anxious to go through all of the free liquor you keep receiving."

"Then it's a deal." I nod. "Two weeks after I get out of here, we'll meet on the Normandy for some fonder memories."

"Why wait that long?" Jacob asks.

"Docs still won't even let me have solid meat yet. And I doubt Tali will want me to leave the loft for at least a few days when I get out."

Everyone laughs out loud, even Brynn, who immediately has a comeback. "You may be overestimating your endurance, Shepard."

"Hey, I've been doing nothing but resting and day dreaming for the last month. I got a shot." I fire back with a smirk. The laughter thunders.

"Well, before you become any more explicit, I'm going to leave." Miranda smirks, giving me a quick hug. "I will hold you to that promise, Aaron."

"Count me in." Jacob chuckles and give me a shake.

"We'll see how much krogan liquor it takes to loosen Miranda's tongue." I joke.

Another round of laughs before the two leave, leaving me and Brynn alone for a second.

"Thank you again for saving us, Commander." she says, offering a shake.

"Hey, thank my comms officer. Our asses still would've been in the middle of nowhere if she didn't find you." I take the shake. "But thanks for the acknowledgment. Take care of Jacob for me."

"I will." She gives me one more smile before retreating after the father of her child.


	7. Biology and Drinks

It was another week into my physical therapy before the next group came in. Liara had finally managed to track down Zaeed and Samara, inviting them to help kill time with me over lunch. Since I still wasn't cleared to walk around much or eat real food, they decided to visit over lunch. Zaeed's voice was a little cryptic when he said that he had something that would "make the waiting a little more god-damned tolerable." over the message about them coming... I don't mind. A little change will help me stop pacing across my room all day.

The crew's wandering in at lunch time, just as I lost at my hundredth round of Tetris. Liara's leading the trio in her usual "librarian uniform," as I call it. Samara is right behind her with the exact same armor she's always worn, and Zaeed's following in...

"Since when do you wear jeans and a dress shirt?" I laugh, standing up from the extra chair to greet the group.

"That armor is heavy." he jokes in a dark, rough British accent. "I can't wear it all god-damn day."

"If I see Miranda wear something conservative, I'll have seen everything." I chuckle, getting a round of encouragement from the rest. "What took you all so long to get here?"

Liara steps forward first and hugs me. "Without any central form of communication, I had to sort through thousands of calls to find mention of them. After that, I had to arrange a few shuttles to pick them up."

"That took a month and a half?" I ask as I let go.

"I must confess that I was part of the delay, Commander." Samara says. "The Code requires me to stay as long as I can to help anyone in need. With the unfathomable amount of refugees and wounded soldiers, I was in constant demand."

"I got held up keeping the peace between a few of the merc crews on the coasts of Europe." Zaeed explains. "The moment the Blood Pack ran out of Reapers to kill, they came after my crew. Then the locals decided it'd be god-damned hilarious to join in the fight."

"How'd that turn out?" I ask.

"After we put down the leaders, the bastards wised up enough to back off. We made a few arrangements, and everyone went their merry way."

"Well, at least we're all alive. Shall I order some crap hospital food for us to enjoy?"

"That won't be necessary, Shepard." Liara says with a raised hand. "We brought meals for all of us."

Zaeed pulls a large brown paper bag from behind his back. He sets it on the bedside table and starts pulling out Styrofoam containers. "Who ordered the octopus?" he asks.

"That should be mine." Samara answers with her zen voice and a raised hand. Zaeed gives her the container and a fork as she sits down on the small couch.

"I'm assuming the salad is for the blue rabbit in the room." he chuckles as he hands another container to Liara.

"A proper diet can add decades to your lifespan, Zaeed." Liara scorns, sitting next to her sister asari.

"Decades for you is a year for us." I remind her.

"The oldest human died at a hundred and ninety. She had a salad with every lunch her entire life." she says.

"I'd rather die at a hundred and still be able to do something about a beautiful asari in my bedroom." Zaeed laughs, making the rest of us return the favor.

Even Samara lets out a small chuckle and a smile. "Do not forget that both of the asari in this room could kill you with their minds." The rest of us bust out laughing as Zaeed grabs the last two containers out of the bag.

"Here you go, Shepard." he says and hands me one of the containers.

I open mine just as he sits down in a chair, and my eyes nearly jump out of my head. "Bacon cheeseburger and fires! Hallelujah!"

I cram as much of the burger into my mouth as I can, taking a massive bite and savoring the taste of real flame-grilled beef. The first quarter of the sandwich disappears too quickly, and I swallow another bite in under a second. The room rattles with laughter at my satisfied moans.

"I..." I say with a mouthful of bacon before swallowing. "Have had nothing but oatmeal, gelatin, pudding, and fruit for the last six weeks. Shut up."

Liara and Zaeed just shake their heads while Samara smiles. The asari both use their utensils to eat their meals, making Zaeed and I look like total slobs, eating our sandwiches with our hands. Turkey, ham, cheese, lettuce, tomato, long white bun: an actual picture perfect sub. Finally, my curiosity gets the better of me.

"Not exactly what I imagined the veteran mercenary eating, Zaeed." I observe.

He pauses long enough to swallow his bite. "My mother used to make the best submarines in the galaxy. Every time I go to somewhere new, I order one to see if she's been beat yet."

"And have you found one?" Samara asks.

"Not a god-damned one." he chuckles. "And you're questioning my menu when there's an asari eating octopus?"

"Didn't your cook used to have a joke about asari and the tentacles?" Samara questions.

"It can't be any worse than Joker asking me if my "hair tentacles flop around."" Liara snaps back. "Why did you defend him when he asked that?"

"To be fair, I was going to tell Joker to go back to work... but then I realized I was curious, too." I smile and raise my hands defensively.

"Are all humans curious about the biology of other species?" Samara asks, returning to the conversation.

"Depends on the biology and the species, but pretty much." I chuckle. "At least for me."

"What biology would that be, Aaron?" Liara asks with a slightly seductive grin. She really has grown up... Four years ago, she would've been terrified by this conversation.

"I avoid anything relating to krogan, period." I laugh. "Just the thought about reproduction and redundant organs just, no."

"The answer to that question is something I wish I never learned." Zaeed interjects, making the rest of us laugh.

"Now, about other little things, yeah." I shrug. "Like those spikes on the back of Garrus' legs, or his fringe. I have always wondered if those make sitting or laying down awkward."

"They are not as hard as you believe." Samara explains. "The "spikes," as you refer to them, and his fringe are fairly malleable and bend when in contact with something, much like a nose."

"That makes sense, I guess." I return to my food and scarf down another handful of fries. "That's just the first one I could think of. What about a hanar's sense of touch, with their gelatin bodies, or salarians and their antennas?"

"You have thought about this far too much." Liara chuckles. "I can't imagine how bad Quarians fascinated you."

"I confess: I spent most of my time on the Normandy trying to figure out how to get these questions answered without directly asking or being misinformed by the extranet." Everyone gets another good laugh at my expense. "I was about two seconds from buying a Quarian Fornax on the Citadel, just to see."

Zaeed and Liara both laugh hard enough to spit out some food, while Samara keeps her cool, but still surrenders a chuckle. "You did not!" Liara gasps.

"I said I was about to. I never said I did." I chuckle. "I'm glad I didn't. I think I would have stared at Tali twenty-four seven."

"That attracted, Shepard?" Zaeed laughs.

"When I found out, hell yes." I grin. "I remember that first time she came up to the cabin, in the back of my head, I was thinking "What does she look like? Does she have lips? How many eyes? Is it skin or scales?" She was more terrified than I was, so I tried to be the brave one. I took the mask off, and that little voice went from "What? Where? If?" to..." I do my best impersonation of a bug-eyed surprised face. "Whoa."

Everyone gets another laugh, spitting up bits of food across the room again. I finish the last of my fries and pitch the container into the brown bag as Zaeed mimics me. We slowly start to calm down again, finishing our food and returning the trash to the bag. Samara's the last to finish, taking time to savor her squid.

"Anybody got any plans after this?" I ask, leaning back in my chair. "I mean, for when we have a little bit of order in the galaxy again?"

"I have my Code, and I have my duty." Samara says, surprisingly still relaxed, especially for her. "I will stay here until you are fit, Commander, and then I will return to Thessia. There will be many innocents in need of protecting on our war-ravaged home."

"I may offer you a ride, Samara." Liara interjects. "I need a place to rebuild a base, and I may stay closer to home this time."

"I'm sure you guys could use some help over there. Though you should probably make this base space-worthy, let you move it around instead of blowing it up." I suggest.

"That would be preferable to building a new one every few months." she chuckles. "There are a few Spectres and military groups that could use superior intelligence."

"So what about you, Zaeed?" I ask, turning to him. "Any ideas?"

"You first." he smiles back. I know it's friendly, but it is still a little intimidating.

"I'm going to a nice, quiet little planet called Rannoch, build me a house, and avoid any more bullets. I won't ruin the surprise before the press conference in two weeks... Though there may be a certain information broker who already knows of my plans." I glance over accusingly.

"I haven't spied on you, Aaron." she chuckles lightly. "Though it wouldn't be hard if I decided to."

"Just don't start prying with a certain thief and a certain turian. I doubt those two would keep a secret for very long."

We get another laugh before all the eyes in the room return to the mercenary in his chair. "So..." I ask quizzically.

He sighs, leaning forward in his chair and resting his head on his knuckles. "I'm honestly thinking about retiring." he says, almost sounding like he's tired.

"You're serious?" I ask, surprised. That is not the answer I expected. "You're leaving the business?"

He closes his eyes before he continues. "Shepard, I've seen a lot of things that make it hard to sleep at night. A lot of them came from this war, but a lot of them didn't. You should understand that. You're retiring, too, you god-damned fool."

"Yeah, I'm not saying I blame you, Zaeed. I'm just surprised."

He rubs a hand over his face. "I started thinking about all of the old friends I've lost. I can count the number of them still alive on one hand. I don't want to go out like them. I'm... tired of the fighting. I've had the shit kicked out of me too many times to do this job anymore." He lets out another heavy sigh.

"So... any idea of where you're gonna go?" I ask quietly.

He shrugs a little. "Maybe up to Rannoch, see if I can't find another sweet little Quarian to spend some time with. Your girl can't be the only good one." He gives up a soft chuckle.

I stand up and lay a hand on his shoulder. "If you ever need anything, Zaeed, just call me. You're still my crew, and I can still be pretty convincing."

He leans back into his chair and looks me in the eye with a grin starting to return. "There'll be god-damned ice cream in hell before I ask you for help." he chuckles.

"And the mercenary is back." Liara laughs, lightening the dark cloud above our heads.

"Didn't know I left." he smiles. He stands up and digs out a six-pack of beer from the bag. "I have to get back to my men before they start making trouble again. But we need have at least one drink before then."

"Amen." I say, taking a bottle.

"I suppose I could have one drink." Liara smiles in surrender.

"If you wish." Samara says.

Everyone takes their bottle, pops the top off, and holds their drink high in the air.

"To the beginning of a new life." Zaeed starts. "And to the memory of our lost comrades."

"To the continuation of our lives." Liara continues. "To rising from the ashes of what was lost, and growing stronger."

Samara cuts in. "To the pleasant end. To making the galaxy better before leaving it, making sure that our children do not repeat our mistakes, nor they suffer for ours."

"And to crew." I finish. "The one thing that is closer than family. The group of people you put your life, your hopes, and dreams in the hands of. May all our dreams come true, our lives be kind, and our hopes be not the only things sustaining us."

We all tip our bottles back, draining the alcohol. Except for Liara, who starts hacking it back up. "Goddess." she coughs. "What is that?"

"Denorian beer." Samara chuckles. "Krogan drink it by the barrel, but it is safe for most other races."

"It tastes like thruster fuel." Liara chokes out, wiping her hand on her sleeve.

"I like it." I shrug. "Little bitter, but refreshing."

"Glad you can knock it back, Shepard." Zaeed laughs, handing me the rest of the pack. "Hang on to this and use it to survive these last two weeks."

"Much appreciated." I say as I take the pack. "Have to hide it before a nurse finds it."

"Take care." he says, giving me a brief one-armed hug. Not something I expected from him.

"You too." I return after letting go. Samara follows a second later, preferring a simple handshake.

"As always, it has been an honor, Commander."

"Same here." I say. "And please, call me Aaron, or at least Shepard. You've earned that."

"As you wish, Aaron." she softly smiles, which is just as rare as Zaeed's hug.

Liara quickly takes her place and gives me a hug. "I hope you recover soon. There aren't enough people like you in the galaxy."

"If there were more of me, insurance companies would go broke." I laugh, returning the hug. "But the same goes to you. Thanks for having my back."

"Thank you for everything else." she says as she lets go. "I have to take them back, but I will visit again."

"I'll be waiting for the entertainment." I joke. Everyone gets one more laugh before walking out the door.


	8. Deeper Than Expected Conversations

Three days after the last visit, Cortez, Vega, and Chakwas became my newest distractions from card games on my omni-tool. Apparently, it took that long for any of them to get free from their rescue duties. I wasn't about to bitch via text messages about how long the company was taking... But it didn't stop me from doing it mentally.

The crew comes in a little after breakfast, just before my scheduled physical therapy. I get a small chuckle as the two amigos try to get through the door at the same time. Vega's broad shoulders slam Cortez into the opposite frame and almost crush him. Karin behind them puts her hand to her head and laughs while the two quietly bicker about who gets to go first.

Finally, I decide to end their suffering. "How the hell have you two survived this long without me?" I ask sarcastically as I push James back and drag Steve forward.

"I would be just fine if Mr. Vega had any sense of spacial awareness." Cortez snaps, brushing off his shirt.

"Your timing is what sucks, Esteban." James laughs back. "I told you to wait, no?"

"No, James. I believe you told Steve that he could try to get in before you." Doc chuckles to herself, following into the room.

"Still doesn't answer the question of how you two haven't killed each other by accident yet." I laugh and give Vega a shake.

"It's because I don't have to be co-pilot with him." James laughs, returning the shake.

Cortez follows behind him as his partner lets go. "If I started doing that, he might learn to fly without crashing the shuttle." He repeats the gesture with me.

"And then you would have nothing to do in your free time." James chuckles.

"Mechanics and doctors are not that different, James." Karin says as she comes forward. "Our jobs may be to repair what is broken, but we don't appreciate others making our job any harder."

"And that's coming from the woman who's patched up more of my injuries than I can count." I laugh, stepping forward and giving her a hug.

"I do wish you would learn to duck, Commander. My job is stressful enough, and you can only have so many scars." she adds with a warm, motherly chuckle.

"I don't know. Tali seems to like them." The comment earns me a stern look, a few laughs from the other men in the room, and a slap across the arm.

"So. How's it been going, Loco?" James asks, sitting in a chair. "Got any more stories?"

"Only how I'm going to lose my mind if I stay here much longer." I laugh and sit down on the couch. "I've broken the score limit on Tetris, read fifteen books, figured out how to play a hundred songs on my guitar and a holographic electric guitar, and can complete a game of solitaire, free cell, or mahjong in under a minute."

"I'm surprised you haven't been in the gym. Or at least hung out with Tali." Steve says, taking another chair.

"Spending three hours a day in the physical therapy gym, and Tali's been up here every night. This couch has been her bed for the last six weeks." I shrug.

"I guess now would be the time to see if I could beat you in sparring." the larger of the amigos laughs.

"Even in physical therapy with bad everything, I could still kick your ass." I retort.

"Do not joke about that, Commander." Karin scorns. "As your new doctor, the most you will be allowed is to use the training room for recovering patients. I will not have you delaying your recovery any further because of you pride and insatiable desire to display you masculinity."

"When did you become the one in charge of me?" I asked, shocked.

"Since I demanded that I be put in charge. I was your primary doctor and the most qualified to treat you."

"I didn't realize you could be so forceful, doctor." Cortez observes.

"Only when I have to be." Karin says, returning to her usual, pleasantly mild self. "Your commander would disobey that order if it was given by any other doctor."

"What makes you so sure of that?" James asks.

"Because this is the only doctor I'm afraid of." I chuckle, prompting everyone else to do the same. "Her idea of fun is cutting me open to see what she can mess with."

"Sheer curiosity, Commander, I assure you." she gently laughs. "It was fascinating to see how the tech inside you affected your body."

"Then I'm glad the surgeons got rid of it. Now you don't have any more reasons to use me as a lab frog, and Cerberus doesn't have any more of their toys in me. Exactly how much of that crap did they leave in me?"

"The charts say that nothing functioning was left. I spoke with the surgeons, as well as your previous doctor, and they all have the same agreement. Every synthetic piece inside your body was damaged to the point of inactivity. Any piece that could be safely removed was, in order to make room for the new organs. The only things remaining are inert and simply too dangerous to remove, but they negligible amounts and should have no effect whatsoever on your health or well-being."

"I guess that explains why I'm still so weak." I shrug. "Have to adjust to a completely different set of organs instead of tech."

"Most people don't get that chance in the first place, Loco." Vega says, leaning forward in his chair.

"He's right about that, Shepard." Cortez follows. "We all lost a lot of friends who we'd like to have back with us."

"Amen to that." I sigh, remembering a few of the people I've lost. Mordin, Legion, Thane, Kaidan... Hell, I still miss Jenkins... My squad from Akuze... Even my parents...

"Oh, to hell with it." I say and shake it off. "Let's talk about something else."

Vega gets a cunning grin on his face. "Sure. So what are you and Sparks doing in bed?"

Steve's eyes nearly jump out of his head in shock, while Karin and I both break out laughing. "Did you actually say that?" she says in between gasps for breath.

He shrugs, not losing the smirk for even a moment. "I'm curious. Sparks is something else, and she's easy on the eyes, even with the suit. Marines love to hear stories."

"That's one tradition I didn't pick up, Vega." I laugh. "I'll leave what happens behind closed doors to your imagination."

"That's not a good idea." Steve injects. "He'll start making his own stories, and everyone on the ship will think he's telling the truth."

"And who will honestly think I told this dumb-ass anything?" The room laughs again in response.

Vega stands up with a hand over his chest, acting like he's in pain. "My pride..." he laughs.

"Quit with the diva act, Mr. Vega." Steve chuckles with a punch to the leg.

"If the two of you keep this up, I might start believing that you are a couple." Karin retorts. The comment gets both men to stop and return to their chairs while I laugh hard enough for my ribs to hurt.

"Ok, before our conversations get any stranger..." I laugh, getting everyone to calm down again. "Let's try to talk about something normal and non-sexual."

"And there goes all the fun topics." James jokes. "What do you have in mind, Loco?"

"For starters, what took you all so long to get up here?"

"My fault, Commander." Steve says with a raised hand. "I've been running the Kodiak non-stop, doing search and rescues across the Citadel and Earth. Things haven't slowed down enough for me to take a break until now."

Karin shakes her head no. "I have been in the same situation. The hospitals have been overrun, and I've been in the clinic for twenty-three hours a day the last month. A small cot in the office became my bed, and I only left for food."

James finally speaks up. "Been alternating between weapon maintenance and peace keeping. No one's as good as me at fixing broken guns, and we need all of them we can get. Couple sons-of-bitches mercs think looting from survivors isn't a bad idea."

"Do you guys have any idea how guilty you're making me feel?" I ask. "I'm up here, laying around in bed, playing on the net, while you guys are saving lives."

"None of the lives we are saving would be here if you hadn't saved them in the first place, Commander." Karin says in her usual reassuring voice. "You have gone through an utter hell, and you deserve some rest."

"The old Commander I was wouldn't take no for an answer and might shoot his way out." I sigh.

"The old Commander wasn't in therapy, learning how to walk again." She leans over and sets a hand on my shoulder.

"I know, I know." I surrender. "Doesn't make me feel any better."

"Just think about the fact that you have Tali." Steve suggests. "You have no idea how much you perked up when she was back on the ship."

I chuckle to myself, realizing he's right. That girl certainly made my life bearable again. "You're right. What's that old joke? "Just let me bitch for five minutes and I'll be fine."" A few chuckles go around the room, easing the tension. "Anybody have any idea what they're going to be doing after this?"

James is the first to react, leaning back into his chair. "My recommendation for the N7 program still stands. Probably go in there, if it's still running. Still staying in the Alliance, at least."

"I have the same idea." Steve says. "We need plenty of pilots and mechanics. I don't feel like retiring quite yet."

"I guess all three of us will remain." Karin joins. "I will always be a doctor, and I have grown too fond of ships to stay ground side."

"Chances are you'll be with Joker." I offer. "That man's more addicted to flying than he is to breathing."

"Wonder if he'll still be in charge of the Normandy." James questions.

"I think he's earned a few points with the brass. And no one knows that girl quite like him. They'll be pretty lenient." I chuckle.

"I'm not hearing much about your plans, Commander." Karin observes. The rest of the trio leans in closer in anticipation.

I lean back and stretch into my chair. "My ass is going to Rannoch, and it's not leaving for anything except an occasional vacation."

"Sparks making your choices already?" James laughs.

"She's very convincing." I joke, earning a few more laughs. "It's a little isolated, the planet is beautiful, and Tali certainly wants to be there. I figure I can land a job as a semi-retired teacher, take the cash from some of the vid and book deals that are already appearing in my emails, build a house..."

"And keep a certain Quarian around for company?" Steve asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, for that, you will have to wait until the press conference on the day I get out of this place."

"Not even a hint, Loco?"

"Not gonna happen, Vega." I chuckle.

Everyone leans back in their chairs, taking a few moments to relax. I sigh a little as the sudden feeling of an old soldier sweeps through me. "I need to thank you guys. For everything."

"We should be thanking you, Commander." Karin says. "You've saved all of our lives at least once."

"And you've saved my ass more times than I can count. Karin, how many times have you stitched up my skin or treated me for a burn or infection I got careless with?"

"Not enough times to make up for getting me out of the Collector base alone."

"Maybe. But if you combine it with going with me on a suicide mission, committing treason to go after Saren, and joining me for this last war, I'm owing you."

She leans forward into her chair, going from relaxed to serious. "I was doing my duties as your medical officer. But if that's not enough, let me point something out. When the Normandy had Cerberus colors across her sides, you spent an extra week away from your duties of recruiting for the Collector assault to help Garrus and Tali. Now would you say that their problems were mission critical?"

I lean forward and match her. "I needed everyone on the ship at the top of their game. Sidonis and Tali's treason charge were both distractions. I did the same thing for everyone else on the ship."

"But that doesn't answer my question, Commander. Did their problems have anything to do with the Collectors?"

"Ye..." I start to say, but then I realize she's right. If I was damn determined, I would have found a way to work around it. That's what I've always done.

"That's what I thought." Karin nods. "But let's say, for the sake of argument, that you truly had to help them. Let's say that the Omega-4 Relay would not work until their problems were solved. When you took the time to help Garrus, you simply could have let him shoot Sidonis. The man probably deserved to die for his betrayal, after all. But... you stopped him. You realized what was happening to Garrus, how he was changing. You knew that shooting Sidonis would only make Garrus fall farther into that anger he was having, and that he wouldn't be himself anymore. You went the extra mile and saved your friend from himself.

"And what about Tali's trial? She told me about what had happened, with her father. Again, you could have taken the easy route. You could have give up the evidence, made her father the one to blame for his crimes and keep Tali's name clear. You didn't do that. You put your heart into a speech to convince the admirals that there was no proof of who committed that crime. You saved her and her father's name. I saw a recording of your speech from Garrus and saw how hard you worked to protect her. Was any of that necessary to complete your mission against the Collectors?"

She looks me in the eye, not trying to be intimidating, but trying to be truthful and get her point across. "You did not have to go those extra miles, but you did anyway. Can you tell me why?"

"Because they are my friends, Karin." I say calmly. "Garrus has had my back ever since we met, and he's gone through Hell to help me. Tali did all the same, even before I fell in love with her. There is not a thing I wouldn't do for either of them."

"Exactly. You went the extra mile to help friends. You care about them, and it drives you to go above and beyond your duty. That is why I blatantly committed treason against the Alliance and the Council. That is why I rode with you on a mission I thought would be my last. And that is why I have stayed on your ship every time you called. Because I consider all of us on this ship friends, and while I may not carry a weapon, I will do everything in my ability to help you all."

I sigh and lean back, thinking about what she just said. I've never taken the people who've helped me for granted. I've thanked every engineer or deck hand on the ship, but... I never really questioned their motives for staying. I didn't think about why they stuck around when we were obviously walking straight into Hell. I assumed it was for the mission and what was riding on it... Were they all so personally attached to this?

"Thanks, Karin." I finally say. "For having my back and... giving me something to think about."

She leans over and sets her hand on my lap. "It's nothing, Shepard. It's my way of repaying a debt."

"You still won't call me by my first name?" I laugh, returning to my old self again. "There's a soldier in that chair whom I've known for all of seven months and calls me "Loco", and we can't get past this?"

"I told you: I will never call you by your first name." she chuckles over Vega's shout of "How did I get in this?" and Cortez's bout of laughter.

"You people make no sense." I shake my head. "Ok, back to topic I started with.

"Steve..." I pick my hand up and point it towards him, but I run out of words for a moment. "Where do I start?"

"I've got all the time in the world, Commander." he says, leaning back in his chair again.

"I... You are the most interesting pilot I have ever had." I chuckle a little. "You're a hell of a worker, a great supply manager, an entertaining man to listen to. And the being gay thing is icing on the cake."

Cortez laughs again, another smile forming. "Thought I saw some surprise on your face when I told you about my husband.."

"Don't get me wrong, I have absolutely no problem with you being gay. But I did not expect it the first time I saw you. It didn't bother me to talk to you at all... Except when we were at Purgatory."

"Make a pass at the manly Commander, Esteban?" Vega jokes from the opposite chair.

"No, no." I say, shutting down James. "We were having a few drinks, and then Cortez said that he was enjoying the "eye candy." He starts looking at one guy dancing, and I started getting a little nervous. My only thought was "Please tell me he isn't thinking about me too. How do I let him down without freaking out? Please don't let him think I'm gay too..." I finally look at the stage with the asari on it and say "The eye candy on stage is fine with me.""

Everyone in the room rolls back laughing. "Were you really that nervous?" Steve asks.

"I may look like I always know what to say for every situation, but nine times out of ten, I have no idea what-so-ever." I continue laughing at a barely controllable level. "All of those rally speeches that I give before a mission or something, it's whatever comes to mind. When it comes to personal speeches and awkward conversations, I am completely and utterly clueless. I have no idea how I managed to talk my way into Tali's heart, I tell you that much."

"Guess you learn something new about your Commander every day." James chuckles.

"And then there's James." I say, pointing to him like I did Cortez. "You are definitely on of the more interesting teammates I've had."

"Is that a compliment, Loco?"

"You are one of the few guys I have actually liked the moment I met. I could tell you were a good kid. Guts, good with guns, real smart ass. It's a shame your brain hasn't caught up with your mouth."

He just laughs and shakes his head. "I'm serious." I continue. "Did this dumb ass tell you what he did when we took out those AA guns on Rannoch?"

"Aw, shit." James says, dipping his head down in shame.

"What was Mr. Vega's latest exploit on the Quarian home world?" Cortez asks with a sadistic grin on his face.

"Don't ask me what possessed me to do this, but I told him to disarm one of the guns, even with Tali standing right behind me. He walks up to the control panel, scratches his head, and then kicks the bottom of the panel. Then, he bends down and starts ripping wires out!"

Another thunder of laughter follows, making James bury his head in his hands in a sad attempt to hide. "What did you expect me to do?!" he shouts. "I told you I didn't know what I was doing!"

"And that's made it funny." I laugh.

"Shepard is right: how have you not killed yourself yet?" Karin asks in her own fit of chuckles.

"A lot of dumb luck." Cortez says, joining in on the Jimmy Vega roast.

"Why the hell are you going after me?!" James finally retaliates. "If it wasn't for me, we'd have none of the Prothean data, no Crucible, and no galaxy!" He's yelling now, and if anyone else had shouted it, I would have taken it seriously. But the slight grin on the corners of his mouth tell me he's just making a point, not trying to be somber.

"Relax, James." I chuckle. "At least let me finish before you get defensive."

"Better make it up to me." he says, relaxing again.

"Even with all of the crap we give you for your mouth... you are a damn fine man, Vega. You are a hell of a soldier. You stand up for what you believe in, you don't back down, and you put your ass on the line for your team. That is what separates you from the pack, and that is why they picked you for the N7s."

James gets really quiet for a second, like the rest of the room. He gets the thousand yard stare, and I can see the wheels in his head turning in thought. We sit there and watch him, waiting for whatever he's going to say.

He finally blinks away from the thought and comes down to Mars. "Thanks... Shepard." he says, shaking his head. "I know I give you a lot of shit, but... A compliment from you means more than one from any admiral out there."

"Been a hell of a ride, hasn't it?" I ask. "For all of us."

"Amen." Cortez says.

"You're telling me." James half-laughs.

"I'm merely glad to see it to the end." Karin smiles.

"I would drink to that, but it's probably not a great idea, is it?" I chuckle.

"It would be against the doctor's orders, Commander." Karin smirks, making us all chuckle.

Cortez lets out a heavy sigh. "We really should be heading back. I'm sure all of us have more jobs needing our attention."

Both of the amigos stand at the same time. "Somebody's probably broken a gun by now and needs it fixed." James says.

"And I have my other patients to attend to." Karin says, standing and giving me a motherly hug. "I will be back to check on you in a few hours. Try not to injure yourself any more before then."

"I already promised Tali I'd behave. The three of us all want me out of here ASAP."

"Good." she smiles and pats me on the arm. "I will see you later."

James comes next with a usual shake. "Good to see you again, Loco."

"Don't be a stranger. I need some form of entertainment before I lose my mind."

"No problemo." he chuckles, letting me go and following the Doc out the door.

Cortez comes last, repeating Vega's routine. "Take care of yourself, Commander."

"You too." I look around the room, making sure the other two left and Kasumi's cloak blur isn't here. "You got my message, right?"

He smiles and lets go. "All set up. As soon as the conference is over, everything will go according to plan."

"Thanks. Any word on that delivery?"

"Just like Liara promised, the company sent word it'll be here in about a week."

"Perfect. I owe you one, Steve."

"Don't mention it." he says before heading back out the door.


	9. Krogan Welcoming Party

On the final week of my physical therapy, Wrex finally decided that the krogan were well enough to be left alone and sent me a message that he would be visiting. I made sure that the security would be well aware of the krogan battlemaster and probable escort coming with him, so they wouldn't open fire. That would just piss Wrex off, and the doctors have enough patients. He gave me an hour time frame of when he'd show up, and said he'd bring a few friends.

I was just getting out of the shower when I stopped and started to examine my new scars. I'd noticed them off and on, but I hadn't taken a full catalog of all the new ridges and bumps in my skin.

The surgery had gone off without a hitch: all of the missing skin from my back, torso, arms, and legs was replaced with the cloned skin from the labs. There are small ridges down the sides of my ribs and the insides of my arms and legs, where the skin had connected after wrapping around the rest of the body. They aren't nearly as bad as some of the scars I've had, like that nasty knife cut I had over my eye from Akuze, but I can feel the slight rise when I run my hand over them. In the middle of my chest and back, there are slight discolorations and bumps just slightly rougher than the rest of the skin, mainly where I had those pieces of charcoal glued to me. My face got a little of the treatment too, the old tan flakes replaced, but the only evidence of surgery is a small line under my jaw.

The only part that's hard to adjust to is the lack of hair growing back. My chest has yet to grow anything more than fuzz a month later. My entire body has the same problem with varying degrees. The top halves of my arms are simply slower than usual. There are a few patches on my head where the hair grows back a little slower, but noting noticeable. My face didn't get it bad enough to disrupt the hair growth. I'm still clean shaven though. Tali's decided that I look better without the beard now. She says it matches the new, less scared complexion more than the beard would. Her wish is my command.

I throw on my old jeans and reach for my hoody when I feel the floor slightly rattle from the footsteps of something large. "Which one's Shepard's room?" Wrex's voice thunders from the waiting room.

"How would I know?" Grunt fires back.

"If you would listen to me and ask for directions..." Bakara follows, sounding exceptionally annoyed.

"H-h-he's in-in-in there." I hear a terrified nurse stutter.

I don't even have time to get my hoody on before the largest of the krogan charges through the tiny door, finds me, and sprints to me. "Shepard!" Wrex smiles and grips my arm in the tightest shake of my life.

I grit my teeth and return the shake, offering an one-armed hug that Wrex immediately accepts with bone crushing force. "Good to see you... Wrex." I mutter through clenched teeth as his armored arm slams into my back.

He laughs in his classic krogan hearty/intimidating voice. "Wait until you see who I brought with me."

"BATTLEMASTER!" Grunt screams. Wrex steps out of the way just in time for the "little" soldier to pick me up in a bear hug. He squeezes me in a vice grip, making my back pop about thirty times and the air leave my lungs. His hard-as-concrete armor doesn't allow me to breathe in.

"Fragile..." I say without absolutely any oxygen. "Grunt, I'm still fragile."

"Oops. Sorry, Shepard." he says and drops me to the ground. I land on all fours, gasping for air.

It takes a good thirty seconds for me to regain control. "Glad to see my lessons in delicacy paid of, Grunt." I say as I stand up.

"It's hard to remember you're not krogan. You headbutt better than most of us." he laughs.

"The Commander is stronger than most of the men I've dealt with." Bakara chuckles and steps around the tank-born. "And not just in terms of physically."

"Finally, a krogan that's not trying to kill me." I joke, offering a shake. "It's nice to see you again."

She reaches over and accepts gently. "Likewise. It is good for you to be walking again, Commander."

"A Reaper has as much chance of killing Shepard as having a varren fly out of my ass." Wrex laughs.

"I've seen you eat, Wrex. It would not surprise me if you ate one whole without noticing." Bakara snaps back, making the rest of us laugh.

"Glad to see you haven't lost any of your fire, Bakara." I say, sitting down on the edge of my bed. I notice her stomach is larger than I remember. "Have those kids yet?"

"We are waiting on the birth next month." she smiles from behind the face cover. "It would be a great honor if I could be present."

"Just give me the day and I'll see what I can do. Is this a closed family thing?"

Wrex shakes his head no. "I wish. Apparently everyone on the galaxy wants to see the first genophage-free birth. More damn reporters."

"We could always not let them." Grunt offers. "Or punch them like Shepard did."

"Not the way to win allies. I hate it, but we need to look good so the krogan get a few planets to repopulate." Wrex immediately counters.

"Didn't expect you to be much of a politician." I chuckle. "Big shotgun politics."

"That is how we win a war, Battlemaster. The bigger the guns, the better the fight." Grunt laughs.

"Shepard's learned that lesson well." Wrex smirks and punches my arm. "The scars speak for themselves."

"I'm actually missing most of my scars. Between the skin grafts and my Cerberus revival, I'm missing about a half of the ones should have."

Grunt gets a new smirk on his face. "I would still be careful traveling on Tuchanka without a shirt. Many of the females would be attracted."

"There is no doubt the Commander would attract more than a few of my fellow females, but we are not all impressed by scars, Grunt." Bakara retorts back. "His character would garner far more attention."

"I don't know... there's a certain Quarian who likes my scars." I smile. Everyone laughs at my little joke.

"You should beware you mate." Wrex warns. "She has quite a bit of fight in her."

"Who did she hack this time?" I ask, shaking my head.

"She didn't hack: she knocked him flat on his ass." he laughs.

I think my eyes almost jumped out of my head. "What!?"

"Tali invited us to eat with her when we arrived, Commander." Bakara explains. "We had not eaten lunch and accepted her offer in the cafeteria."

Wrex steps up to continue the story. "There was a mouthy drell whining that if you were good enough to be walking around, you were good enough to get on your ship and help with the rescues. Your mate stood up to him."

"What happened?"

"She told him that you killed all of the Reapers, stopped Cerberus, saved Rannoch, the Quarians, the geth, and the Council, cured the genophage, united the krogan and the turians, stopped the Collectors, and killed Saren and Sovereign. Girl was ready to yell at him, but she didn't; she just listed off all the things you'd done. The drell didn't like it and said that if you was still a hero, you'd be out there helping."

"I'm betting that pissed Tali off."

Grunt laughs as Wrex continues. "Then she told him to insult you in the face instead of in front of your bondmate. He laughed in her face, saying that no one would be with" he lifts his hands for an air quote "some suit rat."

I feel my hand tense up into a fist... If there is one thing that will piss me off, it's someone going after Tali. Back during any of our mission, if anyone shot at her, even if she was perfectly fine, I unleashed pure fucking hell on them. "I hope one of you beat that fucker." I say, trying not to sprint down there and find him myself.

"We didn't get a chance to." Bakara says. "She waved us off. She told him that you loved her and were a far better man than the drell. He laughed at her again and said you were just as bad as her... band of masked thieves. She punched him in the nose hard enough to knock him to the ground before kicking him until he was unconscious."

I sigh once, gaining a little more control over myself. He paid for it... I can live with that. I might still go down to his room and put some fear in his heart. "Good for her. Did she get in any trouble?"

"None, Commander." she says with a shaking head. "The doctor's didn't ask any questions, and the man was in no shape to say what had happened. I suppose you could always pardon her if he presses charges."

"No. I would go down there and beat him until he dropped them. You do not go after my friends, and _no one_ messes with Tali."

"Shepard, it's fine." Wrex warns, trying to make me relax. "No one is coming after her while we're here. So calm down before you start another war."

"Alright, alright." I surrender with another sigh. "You know how I get about her."

"Battlemaster, anyone who stands strong for something he cares for is one to be respected." Grunts says. "That is what makes those with clan stronger than others."

I laugh a little. "That sounds like something Bakara would say, not you."

"You're krantt has grown in unexpected ways." Bakara explains.

"The little whelp's grown beyond that tank he came from." Wrex chuckles as he pats Grunt's arm. "He's a real krogan."

"My little boy's a man now." I joke. "Better than becoming a man in some strip club on Omega." Even Bakara laughs at the joke.

"So how are things with the clans?" I ask, returning to a somewhat normal conversation. "And Tuchanka?"

"Bakara's making things go a lot smoother than I thought." Wrex explains. "I may have started the clan, but she's kept us united and brought more clans with us than I could've hoped. Her negotiating has kept the peace."

"I imagine the genophage cured has made some territory problems."

The shaman takes the stage again. "All of the clans want more room for their expected children. Many females are already pregnant, although I seem to be the first. With krogan birth rates, we could literally triple the population of a clan in under a year."

"Sounds like Tuchanka's about to get really crowded."

"Wrex and I have been negotiating with different leaders to borrow planets for the overflow until we can get serious about settling other systems and planets, as well as the other fleets for transportation. It is our hope that once there is a stable government, we can negotiate for a new home."

"I hope so, too. Seeing those ruins on Tuchanka... makes you wonder about what the krogan could've been if the salarians hadn't messed up the evolution speed."

"We will rebuild, Commander. And this time, we will make sure our children know of the values from the ancients. The krogan will no longer be the brutes that the galaxy sees us as."

"It's not going to be easy." Wrex says, rejoining the conversation. "There are a lot of changes we have to go through. There'll be some that won't go along. But when has anything we've done been easy?"

"Ilos wasn't too bad." I chuckle, making Wrex laugh. "Not until we got to the Citadel, anyway."

"Couldn't be any worse than the damn bugs on Noveria." Wrex fires back.

"Or the thresher maw on Tuchanka." Grunt injects.

"The maw you saw during your Rite was nothing compared to Kalros." Bakara laughs.

I just shake my head. "We didn't have to kill her. You could have told me that she was that big."

"Sovereign was bigger." Wrex counters.

"Anyone else having one of those moments where you wonder how the hell we're still alive?" I ask.

"Plenty of ammo." Grunts suggests.

"You had the krogan with you. That explains everything." Wrex laughs.

"How did you guys manage on Earth?" I ask. "I never did hear how many you lost."

"Lost around two hundred thousand on Earth." Grunt says. "We were there to punch a hole in the defenses and let the rest clean up after us. I don't know how many there were on Palaven."

Wrex takes a step forward. "Four hundred thousand helping the Turians. At least, that's how many the clans lost. There's no telling how many mercs kicked it. I heard you brought Blood Pack into the fight."

"Negotiating with the Pirate Queen herself. A lot of favors I don't want to repeat."

"Who'd you have to sleep with?" Wrex jokes.

"Only Tali. And that wasn't forced." I laugh.

"At least it wasn't a female krogan. She may have hurt you, Battlemaster." Grunt chuckles.

"Weren't you going on earlier about how I'm nearly indestructible? Isn't that a requirement for a human to be a battlemaster?"

"You were complaining you were fragile when I hugged you." he laughs. "Wrex made you an honorary krogan. I can still call you battlemaster."

I lean back and use my arms to prop myself up on the small bed. "I think we need to get together and celebrate after this. Grab a few drinks. Or barrels, in your case."

"As long as you're buying." Grunt jokes.

"I'll do you one better. What's everyone's favorite booze? Ryncol, Wrex?"

"You remembered." Wrex says with a fake adoration.

"What about you, Grunt? Same thing?"

"Whatever you have."

"I can't drink, Commander." Bakara protests. "Not until after the children are born."

"I'm not asking you to. I just want to know what your favorite kind is."

She dips her head in surrender. "As you wish... There is an asari wine that is simply amazing. I believe they call it Athane's Rose."

I open my omni-tool to the intercom. "Nurse Moore?"

"Yes, Commander?" she answers a second later. "Do you need something?"

"Can you bring me two of the bottles of ryncol from the gift collection downstairs, along with a bottle of wine called "Athane's Rose?" It's not for me, before you ask."

"Certainly. I will have Doctor Chakwas check you later to make sure you didn't drink of it."

A minute later, the nurse appears with a blue wine bottle and two large green bottles. "These should be them, Commander. You still have another ten bottles of each waiting for you."

"Thank you." I say, taking the bottles from her. "I'll let you know if I need anything else." she retreats out the door a second later.

"Where'd this come from?" Wrex asks.

"You were holding out on us!" Grunt laughs, grabbing a bottle from my hand.

"Presents from admirers." I chuckle. "You got the same treatment, from the sound of your messages."

"I didn't get ryncol this good. I got the cheap shit." Wrex immediately snags the bottle from my hands, pops it open, and downs a swig.

"For the lovely lady." I chuckle, handing Bakara her wine.

"Thank you." she says with a bow. "I will save it for our meeting. Would the day of our firstborn be preferable?"

"Perfect, Bakara. We can celebrate the true end of the genophage. Any ideas what to name the little one?"

"They are twins, Commander. Two girls. I know at least one of them should be named Mordin, and I was hoping to name the second after you."

"I'd... I'd be honored, but..." I shake my head. Somehow, it just doesn't feel right. Not the taking credit for it, but... like there's some other idea in the back of my head I can't quite reach... "Don't name the girl after me. I'll call you if I change my mind."

Confusion is more than apparent in her eye, but she simply bows again. "It is your call, Commander. No one has earned the right to name the child as much as you have."

"Except for Mordin..." I say. I look over and see Wrex and Grunt now going swig for swig with their alcohol. It gives me a little of a chuckle. Bunch of morons. "Speaking of names, Bakara, do you know my first name?"

"No, I don't." she says. "I didn't ask you on Tuchanka, and I have yet to hear anyone call you by your first name."

"I guess I should be thankful Grunt doesn't call me Daddy. It's Aaron. I thought you should know, since I'm one of the few who knows your name."

She gives me another small bow, but with a smile showing around the corner of her mask. "Thank you, Aaron. It is truly an honor. But I may continue to call you Commander, simply out of respect."

"No problem." I say, shaking her hand. "But at least you know. I 'm guessing that your birth will take place on Tuchanka."

"It will, and most likely by the end of the month. We will celebrate in the middle of camp Urdnot, but the birth will take place in the Hollows. It will be a symbol to the others."

"I will be there, and hopefully, so will Tali." The moment I say that, it hits me. The name. Now I know why I didn't want the child's name to be mine.

"Bakara, the child's name could it be Tali or-or Zorah?" I ask quickly.

"There is no problem with either, but may I ask why you wish to name her after your mate?"

"I... Tali and I can't... have a baby together..." I sigh. I rub my hand across the back of my head and drop my eyes as the revelation truly hits me for the first time. "And if I can't give her a daughter of her own... at least I can give her this one..."

She sets a comforting hand on my shoulder. "I understand, Commander..." she says softly. "I know the pain of not being able to have child of your own... My daughters will be just as much your family as they will be mine..."

I sigh again, feeling a little relieved. Not much, but a little. I've... never really thought about the whole family prospect with Tali. I know without a doubt I'll marry her and I'll spend the rest of my life with her, but... We could always adopt... it just doesn't feel right. She deserves a daughter to raise... Maybe one day... if the technology can catch up...

"Would you like to have one of my daughters?" Bakara asks, interrupting my thoughts. I toss them aside for later.

"No, no. I can't do that. They're yours." I say as I shake my head.

"There will be many more after that, Commander. I can surely spare one for you. It would be the least I can do. I owe their lives to you."

"A krogan can't grow up in a house with a Quarian mother and human father. Just... name the girl after Tali and... make sure you come to visit with her... ok?"

"I will." she says with a solemn nod. "It will be our secret, if you wish."

"Thank you, Bakara... It... means more to me than you understand."

"You have given me children, as well as the children for all of Tuchanka. It is only fair that I give one to you."

Wrex finally finishes his drink and wanders over. "What are you two ladies talking about?" he asks in a slightly drunken slur.

"It only took that much ryncol to get you tipsy, Wrex?" Bakara chuckles. "I'm disappointed."

"You weren't disappointed with me after the genophage was cured! You were in shock of what it was like with a real krogan!" he laughs raucously.

"She was shocked of how much work she went through for nothing!" Grunt insults, equally drunk.

"Those are fighting words, whelp!" Wrex assumes a fighting stance, nearly falling over in the process.

"Did it really only take a bottle to do this?" I quietly ask Bakara.

"Only with high-end ryncol." she chuckles. "The kind most drink takes an entire barrel to do this. I would be careful with the rest of those bottles. A sip may prove fatal to you."

"I'll have to keep that in mind." I laugh, feeling the cloud over my head slowly start to lift. I'll have to talk to Tali about children later, but... for now, it's entertaining to see two falling-over drunk krogan try to headbutt each other. "I'll bring a few bottles of this to the birth of the girls. This is too good not to see again."

"That will be quite a sight, Commander. Would you please help me in getting these two down to the shuttle? Your hospitals cannot take the damage of two drunken krogan."

Grunt's now laying on the ground, trying desperately to get up while Wrex stumbles towards him to tackle. "Sure. But we got a minute. Do you mind telling me why it took all of you so long to visit me?"

"The three of us have been united since the end of the war. I came from Tuchanka to aid in uniting the separated groups together, so that we could gain some order after the chaos. Grunt had come for Wrex for orders. There was no one left to fight besides the other krogan, so he stayed with the clan to help us. We have been busy getting the krogan together so we could send them home or to Palaven, to aid in the rescue efforts there as well."

"So Wrex is doing a good job as the leader of all the krogan, so to speak?"

"As I said, Wrex is a mutant. He realizes that violence is not always the answer. With his help, the krogan my be something more."

"And with your help, Bakara. We never would have made it this far without you. Thank you." I offer her one more shake, and she accepts with a small bow.

"Thank you, Commander. Now can you please lift Grunt? I will get Wrex."

I get Grunt onto his feet and on my shoulder after a few seconds of struggle. Bakara already has Wrex up and moving out the door. A nurse offers to get a wheelchair for us, but quickly realizes the futility with the size of the krogan. The elevator manages to hold the three dinosaurs at the same time and lowers us down gently. When we get to the front door, a small Alliance shuttle is waiting for them. A handful of marines help us load them in, against the protests of the drunks. The shuttle lifts off without incident, minus Bakara waving out the window to me. I limp up to my room again and finally get my damn hoody on while fighting the bruises my welcome came with.


	10. The Future

That afternoon, I got two separate messages in the same five minutes. The first was a joint email from the geth and the Quarians, saying they wanted to meet me in the evening. The other message was from Kirrahe, showing the same thing. I gave them both the ok, as long as they came at the same time. All agreed, and my entertainment for the night was set.

I continue to ice my wounds as a fist knocks hard on the door. "Commander Shepard?" Zal'Korris asks.

"Come on in, Admiral." I say, slowly sitting up to greet the company.

As expected, the first in is the Quarian, wearing the pink suit he wore during Tali's trial... there's a memory I wish I didn't have to go through. Behind him follows Kirrahe with a Scorpion strapped to his hip and combat armor ready for action. And behind him is... a black geth hunter. With no shotgun, at least.

"It's good to see you." I say with a nod to the organics before turning my head to the synthetic. "I'm sorry... I'm... not entirely sure how to greet you."

The geth submits a small bow. "It is perfectly understandable, Shepard Commander." it says, its voice sounding almost female: the slightly higher pitch, the better than average annunciation, almost like EDI. "I believe I need to be properly introduced. My name is Hermes."

"Is that a Quarian name too, or are you actually naming yourself after human mythology?" I ask.

It/she returns to its/her stance. "I chose to be named after your Greek god, for I have found it is most fitting for my purpose. Hermes served as a messenger for the gods, as I will serve as an ambassador for the geth in many political situations. I still send all data received to the rest of my people, but I will be the primary source of contact and decision maker for cross-species relations."

"I guess that makes sense..." I say slowly. It's like talking to a strange cross between Legion and EDI. Studying us, while at the same time, trying to fit in. Shit just got weird. "Please, all of you, sit down."

The trio sits down in the chairs far faster than I do, myself trying not to aggravate the bruises. "Did you gather another souvenir during your hospital stay, Commander?" Kirrahe asks.

"I got a krogan welcoming party. They were all friends, but holy hell, they do not understand the word "gentle."" Kirrahe chuckles, Korris shakes his head, and the geth raises on of "her" head flaps like a raised eyebrow.

"Do you need any assistance, Shepard, Commander?" she asks. She sounds almost sincere, but that might be just my imagination.

"No, no. I'm fine. Grunt took it easy on dear old Dad."

"You fathered a krogan?" Korris asks in a half-shocked, half-entertained voice.

"He was tank-bred. I let him out." I say, trying to stop that rumor. "Sleeping with a female krogan, fertile or otherwise, is not on my bucket list."

"It wouldn't be a great surprise if you did." Kirrahe chuckles. "I'm surprised a krogan hasn't offered yet."

"And I will never accept that offer. I'm taken. Besides, I've had better options come up here. Garrus thought it would be funny to send an asari stripper up here last night. With Tali in the room, I might add." And again, the organics laugh while the synthetic raises a flap.

"Does Officer Vakarian wish to cease your relationship with Admiral Zorah? Typically, infidelities can cause this among organics."

"That's just Garrus giving me shit." I laugh. "We have that kind of relationship. He knows I'll never cheat on Tali; he just wanted to have a little laugh at our expense. I had to spend most of the night making it up to her though. She kept me up looking at house plans."

"I've been meaning to ask you about that." Korris says, leaning forward in his chair. "Tali requested a section of land for housing. I have no problem with this, and I immediately gave her clearance to do so. But the names for the housing permit were hers and yours. That's not a mistake, is it?"

"Not a bit, Admiral. I have every intention and plan to live with her as long as I'm alive."

"Yes!" he shouts with a raised fist. "I win!"

"What is that about?" Kirrahe asks before I do.

"There has been a pool among the admirals. Each of us had a bet as to your relationship to Tali. I won the bet."

"Who was betting what?" I ask.

"Xen bet the two of you were having a "little fling" when you separated, but had since ended it. Gerrel wagered you both were still together, but there were no plans after this. Raan guessed that you two had affections for the other, but had yet to act on it. I said that you were in love with her, and that the two of you would be bonded. All three of them owe me a thousand credits."

"So how long have you bastards been doing this?" I laugh.

"Ever since you rescued me from my crashed ship. The others had the bets going when I arrived. Would you like for me to share my winnings with you?"

"You can keep it as long as this conversation is a secret, Admiral. I don't want anyone knowing my plans just yet."

"I won't breathe a word. You've earned that from me, Commander."

"Thank you."

Hermes raises another flap, this time more upward, like a hand being raised. "May I ask you a question, Shepard Commander?"

"Go ahead."

"Why do you wish to keep this a secret? Typically, organics wish to proclaim their bonding publicly, most notably, the human tradition of proposing. It seems highly irregular for this to be kept a secret."

"I want to make it a surprise. Tali's already agreed about our marriage, but only the three of us, Garrus, and Kasumi know about this. I believe Tali deserves the most that I can give her, and I have something planned for a proposal."

"But if you have a large plan for the proposal, what is the purpose of making it into a surprise?"

I lean forward a little in my chair. "For starters, Tali would probably protest the plan if I told her the details. All she knows is that I plan on proposing to her with a cross of human and Quarian tradition, in a way that tells all of our friends at once. She always hates being the center of attention, or having someone go to excessive lengths for her, like I do. So, for me to propose in the way I plan, no one can know and tell her. Second, surprises are greater for organics than they are synthetics. A sudden change can cause greater emotions and feelings than something known in advance. And I'm hoping to use this surprise to be as romantic as I can for Tali."

"So do you wish to create a surprise for her in an attempt to create a sexual interaction of greater magnitude?" The other two quietly snicker like a couple of kids.

"How did you get sex out of that?" I ask, ignoring the rest.

"Organics typically initiate romantic interactions with their partners with the intention of sexual intercourse. If you are attempting to be "as romantic as you can," as you have said, then would it not be safe to assume you wish to have a greater magnitude of sexual pleasure than typical?" This makes the organics' suppressed laughter grow ten-fold.

"Being romantic is about more than just sex. Being romantic is about treating someone as best you can because you care about them. I love Tali, with all of my heart. I want to do everything I can to treat her. I want to show her how I feel about her. That is what being romantic is about."

She's quiet for a few seconds, processing what I said. Kirrahe and Korris slowly stop their chuckles while Hermes' light rotates. Then she nods. "I believe I partially understand. You wish to display your affection towards Miss Zorah by going to extreme measures. I cannot truly understand this yet, but I can see your reasoning and will attempt to better understand this over the course of my future interactions with organics."

"Speaking of organic interactions, how are things on Rannoch?" I continue. That was the main point of letting them in, anyway.

"It's a very sensitive time for us." Korris explains. "While a few Quarians are accepting our new alliance with the geth, most are trying to avoid them. There have been no conflicts, outside of a few diplomatic arguments. They geth have been most generous in terms of land given and help they've offered."

"It is a general consensus among us that your people deserve some leniency." Hermes interrupts. "We did force you to leave your homes during the Morning War." She turns her head from Korris to me. "We have been aiding them in rebuilding plantations, utility buildings, and any homes that volunteers have asked for. Though, on average, less than seventy percent of Quarians have asked for our aid. They appear to not fully trust us."

Korris comes back into the conversation. "I can't completely blame them. You did kick us out and try to kill us. I have no problem with any of you, and I will gladly accept any help from you that you offer, as well as make sure to approve all construction on Rannoch with you."

"Thank you, Admiral Korris. This is a kind gesture on your part."

"We are moving into your home and taking your resources. We should at least be courteous."

"How's the leadership going?" I ask. "Who's in charge of what?"

"The Admiralty Board will be stepping down from control of our people within the next few months, and it will be given to the Conclave." Korris says. "There is no more use for martial law. The transition will take some time, but no problems are foreseen... except for our natural tendency to argue with each other."

"There's an understatement." I snort. "That damn trial looked like a bar brawl on the stand."

"Quarians have a forty-three-point-nine percent higher tendency of verbal confrontation as compared to humans, Shepard Commander, which is off-set by the sixty-four-point-three percent lower tendency of physical confrontations." Hermes informs me.

"As I was saying..." Korris says. "For anything that is solely insular, the issue is left to us. Anything involving Rannoch always receives an approval from the geth before starting. The housing order from Tali, for example, was first approved by us, then the geth, and then we were going to send the confirmation. The file should arrive in your personal extranet account within the next day."

"What's the geth government now? With everyone being truly sentient?" I ask next.

"Or government, as you call it, is relatively unchanged." Hermes says, not moving an inch. She hasn't gotten the concept of moving while speaking down yet, I guess. "We still communicate with all geth at light speed, taking polls on each matter before making a final decision. Only non-essential communication with the organics is not debated. For example, this entire conversation is being relayed to all geth in almost real-time. None will act upon it until the meeting is concluded, which is why all the geth now know of your bonding plans with Admiral Zorah, but the information will be kept secret. However, if you were to ask us for for resources or aid for the ceremony, all geth would send their answers to me. Whatever the majority of the answers are, I will act upon that."

"Wait, all geth just heard that conversation?" I tense up, thinking the plan might no longer be a secret. "What stops one geth from going against orders and blabbing the plan?"

"Geth may be fully capable of making such a decision on our own, but none have done so. We still see value in communicating with others for input. The eyes of one will see things that another does not, as Legion explained to you upon the Heretic Station. This may become an issue in the future, as we evolve more and more and "feelings," as organics call them, become true for us, but that outcome is not seen for at least another four centuries. And, if such a situation arises, we have a course of action in place for such an event: we will create a small government, such as those of organics, and the consensus will be made among such. These leaders will be elected by other geth, but their memory banks will be scanned thoroughly for ulterior motives, as such corruption is a problem among organics."

"So that if the geth become completely organic, or at least pretty damn close, they can personal relationships that are not for the rest of the geth to know about? Unless they are the ones who will be in charge of anything?"

"That is correct. However, as to not worry you, this outcome is not seen for an exceptionally long time. Unless something more sophisticated than Reapers comes and attempt to upgrade us."

Every organic in the room stops and stares at the geth, with the same look of surprise. "Did you just make a joke?" Kirrahe asks, being the first one to be able to speak.

"Yes, Major. We have found this to be an interesting concept, and are attempting to entwine it with our "culture."" The geth says without raising a flap or anything.

"I'm flashing back to the Normandy." I say, remembering EDI's constant jokes about Joker and scaring the shit out of us.

"That will take some getting used to." Korris laughs.

"Let's go to a topic that won't be quite so strange." I continue. "Kirrahe, how are things with the salarians?"

He shrugs, leaning forward and setting his head in his hands. "We took back Surkesh in a matter of days after the assault on Earth. We are rebuilding, but from the sound of it, we are in better shape than Thessia and Palaven. Thankfully, the Cerberus forces were also killed when the Crucible was fired, and the only resistance was from the local fauna."

"I had heard about that." Korris says. "Something about the upgrades that Cerberus put into their soldiers made them die at the same time as any husks."

Kirrahe nods. "Inside the armor is nothing but ash, just like the husks."

"Geth platforms that were under Reaper control are now also free." Hermes interrupts again. "The identities are now sentient, but are similar to the rest of the geth. They have made multiple offerings of peace with us and the Quarians, as a way of apologizing."

"We saw the same of Surkesh. Both geth that were fighting against us, and the indoctrinated. Not so much the gifts, but apologies and surrender. The main problem we're having is with our leadership. We lost many of our high ranking officers and diplomats during the invasion, and our line of succession has just as many holes as the humans. Communications are back up in most colonies and settlements, but we're not sure who's in charge."

"And having the Council gone only compounds the issue." I say. "None of them got off the Citadel when the Reapers grabbed it."

"Along with a lot of civilians and other diplomats." Kirrahe reminds. "A some civilians got out just before the attack, but not many. The only numbers I heard were in the dozens."

Hermes rotates her light for a second before speaking. "That does not mean all that inhabited the station were lost, Major. While eighty-four-point-two percent are either missing or confirmed dead, the remaining fifteen-point-eight have been since evacuated. Over ninety-seven-point-three of those have attributed their survival to the local militias. These groups herded the non-combatants into safe sectors of the Citadel, such as the Huerta Memorial Hospital."

"Glad something I did made a difference." I say, shaking my head. Most of the things I did there are all gone now. "Hermes, can you access the records on the Citadel and the survivors?"

"Certainly, Shepard Commander. Do you have a specific inquiry?"

"How much of the station is intact? Damage-wise, not population-wise."

The light rotates faster for a few brief seconds. "Compiled, Commander. Thirty percent of the Citadel has been deemed beyond repair, requiring complete removal and replacement. Sixty-seven percent was damaged, but salvageable within the next decade. The remaining four percent has been declared undamaged structurally. However, as is the rest of the Citadel, this sector has superficial damage that will take a minimum of three months to restore, granted the keepers continue to aid in the restoration."

"The keepers are still alive?"

"This is correct, Commander. And anticipating your next question of why they would still be active, the general theory is the keepers' systems were completely isolated from the Reapers themselves. Unless activated by the Reapers, these creatures would continue to fulfill their duties, while the other Reaper creatures, such as husks, were under Reaper control constantly and upgraded to the point they could not function without their masters. So when the Crucible was fired and the husks and Reaper forces were destroyed, the keepers were unaffected."

"That matches with everything else we've seen, Commander." Kirrahe says. "Anything under direct control dies, while something passively affected simply loses the Reaper control on it."

I shake my head. "But what about the geth that were still indoctrinated? The ones we found on Rannoch were under complete control. If anything actively controlled and upgraded was killed, the infected geth should have died too."

"There are many things within geth that the Reapers chose not to tamper with." Hermes explains. "In the basic run-times of the platforms, there is a fail safe. If a network can be detected when the identity is destroyed, it will copy a suitable replacement from the server into the platform. This is part of how the geth prevent hacking attempts. The reason the geth on the fighters that you destroyed in your campaign for Rannoch, Shepard Commander, were not revived is the server itself was shut down with the identities. Legion was aware of our fail-safes and countered them for you."

"This is way to complicated for me to try and wrap my head around." I say, leaning back into my chair. "Going back to the topic I started with. Hermes, can you do a search for a human named Emily Wong in the survivor or death list?"

"Yes... The human is indeed alive, Commander. She was one of many that were in the hospital with the militias. She is currently on the Citadel, aiding in the search for survivors and documenting the efforts of the volunteers."

"Great. Can you forward her extranet address to me? I need to get in touch with her."

"The task is completed, Commander." she says with a short bow of her head.

"Don't suppose you asked the rest of the geth if you could do that before you did, huh?" I chuckle. Kirrahe smiles softly, while Korris chuckles under his breath.

"Actually, we reached a consensus on whether or not to aid in your search before communicating the data on the Citadel. We wished to make sure we were not overstepping our boundaries of other species. The consensus was that if we were deemed to have been so, the repercussions would be minimal. We are also in your debt, Commander, so we deemed it worth the trouble."

"I appreciate, Hermes. Just out of curiosity, what is the geth's plan for the rest of the galaxy? Stay the creepy robot recluses on Rannoch, or join the rebuilding council, or something else?"

"We intend to mimic the rachni's plan in terms of political standing. We will aid in the rebuilding and stay in contact with the other organics, but we will not make any demands or come in full numbers. Only our diplomats will venture far beyond the Perseus Veil. The rest will stay within close proximity in an attempt to "bond" with the local population and continue to locate resources needed for both our people and the Quarians."

"The Quarians won't be quite so subtle." Korris says. "We won't be demanding a seat on the Council or anything, but we need to become involved in galactic politics again. Our aid for the Turians and other races will probably help with our standing. With any luck, as we expand on Rannoch and across the rest of the system, we will grow better relations with the rest. That way, when we become more populous than our system allows, we will gain a few more planets without a great fight."

Kirrahe nods. "I was personally saved by a Quarian extraction ship from Surkesh. There is no doubt that your standing has improved among the politicians of the galaxy. The rest of them will take some time, but it will get better."

"A happy ending for everyone, huh?" I chuckle. "Genophage cured, Quarians have a home again, the geth are now productive members of society, and the Reapers are gone. Not how I saw all of this ending."

"You did make quite an impact on the salarians with genophage, Commander." Kirrahe says. "Most of the politicians are afraid, along with most of the galaxy, but your friend Wrex is being a surprisingly good diplomat. The krogan have been downgraded from "critical" to "a threat to be monitored" in the STG."

"Good to hear. So the new Councilor won't try to kill me when she becomes elected?"

"You should be safe, Commander. Though do not be surprised if you find an STG bug in your household. We can't have you changing everything, can we?"

Every organic in the room laughs, while Hermes lets out a short chirp. It might be a laugh, but I don't know. It doesn't really matter.

I'm the first one to keep speaking. "It was good to see all of you. Again, in the case of you two. For the first time, in your case, Hermes."

She surrenders a small bow. "It has been an honor. I wish to thank you for allowing me to visit."

"Any time, Hermes. Just give me a little of a waring. Most of the security guards crapped themselves when they found out a geth was coming."

"As you wish, Commander. I believe that we must leave soon, Admiral Korris?"

"She's right." Korris says, standing up. "The all three of us are needed to play politics. Though the Major's job requires more firearm expertise."

"I've been organizing the remaining STG forces." Kirrahe explains. "We will be going back to Surkesh to secure as much of our research data as possible."

"It's no problem." I offer a hand shake. "I'll send you an invite to the wedding."

The salarian smiles and accepts the offer. "Thank you. I will make sure to have leave ready."

"Goodbye, Major. Stay safe out there. Until you guys perfect cloning and can make more fine soldiers like you."

He laughs and walks out of the room.

I turn and face the geth next. "Before you go, Hermes, I have one last question."

"You are free to ask, Commander." she replies immediately.

"Would it be much trouble to ask for some geth help in building a house for Tali and I? We will have most of the plans finished for our spot, which Korris just said was approved for us by both sides, and we will pay for any supplies and labor. The extra manpower and efficiency of your people would be very helpful."

The geth looks at me for just a second, then goes down into a full bow, all the way down to her waist. "I would be honored to aid you. I will personally see to it that the labor and supplies will be supplied for no cost."

"You don't have to do that, Hermes. I would be more than happy to pay you."

"I cannot accept that, Commander." she says, standing up again. "You have given the geth the ability to be truly alive when you could have simply destroyed us. We will always be in your debt, and we will always try to repay you in any way we can."

Korris steps up too. "The same goes for us. Any architects that you wish to have help you are at your service. We can help with the interior design, drawing the designs, and anything that requires craftsmanship, with no cost to you. You have given us our home, so we will give you yours. It is the least we can do."

"I-I... thank you." I say, surrendering. I really can't say no to them. But I will still have to pay them back a little. For everything.

"It is truly an honor." Hermes insists. "And if I could have a request, may I be one of the workers on your home, Commander?"

I give up a smile and a shake. "Whatever you want, Hermes. As long as the plans match the house and the walls hold up."

"I cannot guarantee that. I am not skilled in operating a hammer." she jokes, giving another strange chirp. She accepts the shake, and then leaves the room after the salarian.

"Don't complain, Shepard." Korris says. "At least she didn't ask to build a statue in your honor."

"The krogan already have that covered. There's also talk of putting one up of me in London, the Citadel, and Palaven. I hope I can walk around without getting mobbed for an autograph."

The admiral laughs, offering a shake. "It's been a pleasure. I hope we can meet again for drinks. I never properly thanked you for saving me."

"I was in the neighborhood. You looked like you needed a lift." I joke. We both chuckle while I shake his hand. "Do you have one more minute? I have two favors to ask."

"It's no problem. What do you need?"

"The first is something very long term. When we move to Rannoch, hopefully within the next year, I would like to have a job. I could be an instructor for you marines for small squad combat. With no live-fire exercises: impact rounds only. But just something for about thirty or forty hours a week, so I can keep myself busy and earn a paycheck."

He nods immediately. "I will make sure you have that. The hours and conditions will be completely up to you."

"The second is a little more personal, which is why I waited for the rest to leave first."

I give him the outline of my plan, which I don't even entirely know yet. Then I tell him where he comes into the equation. He just stands there and nods occasionally, absorbing the information.

When I'm finished, there's no hesitation in his answer. "I can take of that. I might not be able to do that in the time frame you've given me, but I know someone who can. I will make sure she reaches you."

"Thank you, Admiral." I say with a slight bow. "This means a lot to me."

"We have all been where you are. You have my word that I will keep the promise. And since we're talking about the future, I want to make sure of something. You are aware that Tali has given a letter of resignation to the Admiralty Board?"

"Completely. We've been talking about it for a while. She thought it was best, and I agreed. She was really only there for her expertise in fighting geth, and that won't be a problem anymore. She misses working on engines and computers."

"I was merely checking, Commander. Have a good day. And please send me an invitation to the wedding, too. I have grown rather fond of that girl. She reminds me so much of my daughter."

"No problem. So you'll be my father-in-law then?"

We both chuckle as he leaves.

* * *

Tali arrives a few minutes later, carrying food for the both of us. "Hey."

"There you are, baby girl." I say. I take the trays from her and set them on the bed. "I was wondering when you'd show up."

"The line in the cafeteria was longer than usual." she explains, giving me a hug. Her voice sounds like she's sick, like her nose is clogged or something.

"Are you feeling ok?" I ask.

"It's just a runny nose. It's a reaction to having the mask off yesterday. I'm adjusted to you, but not to the others that keep coming in the room."

"I had to make sure... I heard you had a run-in with a drell today."

She tenses up, obviously caught off-guard. "Wrex told you, didn't he?"

"All of them did. You didn't get into any trouble, did you?"

"No. The drell said that he tripped and fell. The doctors know what happened, but they don't care. The nurse said he deserved it."

"He did. Wrex told me what he said. I almost asked what room he's in so I could go down and beat him myself."

"Please don't do that." she says, tightening her grip around me. "Please. He got what he deserved. That's all that matters. Can we not think about it?"

"Ok, Tali... I'll forget about it. You know me. I'm overprotective of you." I rub my hand across her back. It helps me calm down a little too. Thinking about that made me start thinking about my conversation with Bakara...

"There's one thing I have to ask you. It's not about the drell." I say a second later.

"What is it?"

"I was talking to Bakara and we started talking about her kids and... I was wondering if... if you had thought about that at all... kids... for us..."

She leans forward a little, setting the edge of her mask on my forehead. "I've thought about it a lot... especially after Rannoch... Are you asking how I feel about it? Or are you asking because you have an idea?"

"I wish I had an idea, baby girl. I really do. But short of adoption or-or growing a baby in a tube like Miranda... we really don't have any options... But not being able to not have a child of my own flesh and blood doesn't bother me..."

"Then what's bothering you?" she whispers just barley loud enough for me to hear.

I start to tear up a little. "What's bothering me..." I try to keep going, but my voice starts to break. "What's-what's bothering me... is that... the only thing I can't give you a baby of your own. I can give you everything of mine: all of my time, my heart, my love. But the one thing I can't give you... is your own little baby girl..."

She tightens her hug to the point that I can barely breathe. "I know... I've known from the moment you told me you were interested in me that I couldn't have a baby with you. Maybe we will adopt, or maybe somebody will find a way... But it doesn't matter. I have you, Aaron... That's all that matters..."


	11. The Finest of the Alliance

"I love you... I've loved you all along. And I forgive you... for being away for far too long. So keep breathing... 'cause I'm not leaving you anymore more. Believe it... Hold onto me and never let me go..."

I slowly finish the song, trying to get the vocals and strings to all match up for me. It's a hard song to keep straight, with the weird lyric rhythm at the end. But after a little bit of practice, I've finally mastered it.

I end the recording function on my omni-tool and save the audio, under the name _Far Away. _Then, I open the messaging option and write up a text for Tali:

"Hey, baby girl. I've been up here practicing my guitar again, and I thought I should send you a little of what I've played. I picked these three songs because they all remind me of you. The first is called _Here Without You._ I listened to it a lot when I was down on Earth during my trial. It's always made me cry a little, but I thought it summed up our situation.

"The second is _Far Away: _a song that I listened to a lot over the last few months of the war. I would play it in my cabin every night, hoping that I would find you out here. That was the one thing that kept me going: knowing you were out here somewhere.

"And the third is _Wait for Me._ That one I didn't start listening to until I got stuck here. I keep thinking that you are patiently waiting for me to get out and really be with you again. That means a lot to me, Tali. More than you can imagine. I just wanted to let you know I was thinking about you. I love you, baby girl. -Aaron."

With the message away, I return the guitar to the case and check my countdown timer to my release from hospital care. Only six days, fourteen hours, three minutes, and fifty seconds. Two hours after that, I will be on the Normandy again, with Tali and not a care in the world. Forty-seven seconds... forty-six seconds... forty-five seconds... Damn you, clock, move faster.

"Your visitors have arrived, Commander." Nurse Moore says over the intercom. "Admiral Hackett, Flight Lieutenant Moreau, and EDI?"

"Go ahead and let them in, Chelsea."

A few moments later, Joker barges in the door with his alliance uniform and a grin a mile wide. "There's the hero!" he laughs. He limps to me and fires off a salute. "Which insane planet do you want to land on next? The Primarch's front porch? Wrex's throne? How about the galactic core again?"

"Oh, shut the hell up." I fire back, giving him a gentle hug. I try to mind his fragile bones and mostly succeed, based on his constant chuckles and fake fight to get me off him.

"You may wish to be more careful with Jeff, Shepard." EDI says, slowly following in her black and orange Cerberus suit while I release her human boyfriend. "He can be fragile, and I would hate to have to defend him from you."

"I won't break him. Might give him a little hell, but he'll still be in one piece." I walk over to her and pat her soldier. "Where's the admiral?"

"Right here, Commander." Hackett steps through the through the door, wearing his uniform. "It's good to see you."

"Pleasure's mine, Admiral." I say with a salute. "Apologies for not wearing my dress blues. If I had thought about it for even a moment, I would have."

He returns the salute with a slight grin on his old, scarred face. "After everything you've done, I don't give a damn. You would be wearing nothing but your skivvies and I'd still salute you."

"That is a sight neither of us want to see." I chuckle and release the salute as he does. "How are you feeling?"

"It's nice not having to worry Reapers about anymore, but that problem was far simpler than the one's I'm dealing with now."

"What's wrong?"

He sighs and shakes his head. "The war took a large chunk of our leadership out. No one knows who's in charge of what, and I've been made the leader of the entire Alliance by default. That puts me in charge of all rescue efforts on any human colonies, including Earth, managing relations between every race involved in the war, and reassembling what's left of our civilization."

I let out a short whistle. "Damn. And I thought getting them together in the first place was hard."

"You got the hard work done, Commander. Mine isn't as bad: it just absorbs all of my time and energy. No one's tried to shoot me yet."

"In defense for both of you..." EDI injects, walking to our side. "Your success rate in your duties is far higher than could have been reasonably predicted. Curing the Genophage, stopping Cerberus, retaking Rannoch while saving the Geth, and saving Earth are all things that were deemed impossible by themselves, Shepard. Only you have completed all of them, let alone just one. And Admiral, few others could have managed a cross-species attack on a planet of this magnitude, as well as continue to maintain peace afterward. The two of you are outliers in any scenario."

"That's my girl." Joker laughs and lays an arm over her shoulders. "Giving a pep talk with numbers. I'll try to help her get better at it."

"You will not be a great role model. You speeches are complete bullshit, honey." she smiles back at him.

Hackett shakes his head in disbelief. "When I heard the scuttlebutt about those two, I thought it was a joke. I never thought that it would be real."

"After all the hell we've seen, you have trouble believing a man can fall for an AI?" I ask with a chuckle.

"This doesn't bother you?" he asks. "You can't look at this like it's normal. I have nothing against it, but this is anything but normal."

"You do realize you're talking to the man who's dated a Quarian for two years?"

"Garrus was right. The Normandy isn't an Alliance ship: it's a touring zoo."

Everyone laughs at the joke, even EDI. I gesture for all of us to sit down, and everyone takes seats in the chairs. The strange couple takes the two-person couch, predictably.

"So, Joker." I start when reach my chair. "What have you been doing for the last two months?"

"Hackett commandeered the Normandy as his personal ship." the pilot explains. "Every time a marine needed help zipping up his jumpsuit, I had to fly the admiral there so he could fix it."

The old man laughs and shakes his head. "On some days, that feels about right. Every single order about who has to go where has been routed through me. Without a steady form of communication, going down the the commanding officer on the scene is more often the rule than the exception. At least you communications specialist has been making my life easier by setting up secure links to the leaders of other races."

"Traynor is handy." I surrender. "Made more than a few discoveries that saved lives. How is she?"

"Samantha has been very content with her work." EDI explains before anyone else gets the chance. "She enjoys being kept busy, especially in her field of expertise. She is also happy to have most of the crew and myself to talk to."

"I don't want to imagine that girl talk." I joke.

"Mostly, we debate on who has had better boyfriends, or girlfriends in her case. I am currently winning the argument." she smiles at her pilot.

Joker laughs and lays his arm over her shoulders. "You'd be amazed at what I've-"

"I swear to you, Joker, if I get one detail about what to two of you do when you're not flying the ship, I will personally throw you out the airlock." I say, cutting him off.

"He was only going to say he is very good with his hands." EDI defends.

"That warning is for you too." I scold. "I do not need images of that in my head."

"It's too late for me." Hackett leans back and rubs his eyes in and attempt to get rid of the memory. We all laugh at his expense as the old soldier acts like an eight year-old that just found out what the sounds coming from Mom and Dad's room were.

"Back to normal topics, though I expect we'll bring that up again before we leave." I laugh. "What's going to happen to you and the Normandy?" I ask Joker.

He smiles even wider. "Hackett already has the answer to that one."

The admiral finally returns to his senses and acts normal when his name is brought up. "With everything that your pilot has done, Commander, he will stay with the Normandy as long as he wants. He has earned the right to select any posting for any length of time he wishes."

"I get to stay with my AI." Joker says lovingly as he looks back at the synthetic on his arm.

"Even if you couldn't, I would make sure I could stay with you, Jeff." EDI smiles back.

"As for the Normandy..." Hackett continues. "The ship will still remain under Alliance jurisdiction. She is too valuable to let go, but Joker will be able to pick which assignments they will take. He will be both the Captain and the pilot, the first in Alliance history."

"What'll be my title now? Captain Flight Lieutenant?" the pilot laughs.

"We'll figure something out." the elder says. "For the most part, the first few years will be nothing but victory tours, and most of the missions will be low-risk diplomacy assignments. However, for the next year, the ship will be his to control without any Alliance oversight. He'll still receive his usual paycheck and the fuel bill will be on us. I thought it was a fitting reward for his service."

I give another whistle. "Hell of a victory present."

"Don't think you're getting rid of me that easy, Shepard." Joker insists. "I plan on being your personal driver until the Alliance calls me back. I know you'll need a lift to all of the victory parties you'll get invited to."

"You don't have to do that, Joker. I'm sure I can find a ride myself."

"But it wouldn't be in style. I've got to pay you back for saving me on the first Normandy. Like it our not, you're not leaving a planet unless it's in the Normandy."

"Fine, fine." I surrender. "I planned on having you give me a lift off Mars, just not everywhere for the next year. But park that thing in my front yard, there is nothing in the galaxy that will stop me from kicking your ass."

Everyone laughs again, Hackett's the first to regain his composure and talk again. "I'm assuming you have a yard in mind, Commander. Does this have to do with whatever you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Yeah... that's one of the big reasons I invited you here." I sigh. Before he brought it up, I had no problem telling him, but... now that I actually have to tell him... "I'm leaving the Alliance. With the plans I have for the future, I won't be in Alliance space. I've put in my fifteen years, so I can retire, if I have to. I don't care about retirement benefits; I just need to get out. I'm sorry, Admiral."

We looks at me for a second, and then lets out a loud chuckle."There'll be no problem with your retirement. You'll receive full benefits. Just give me an address of where you'll be, and I'll take care of all the paperwork."

"That was... easier then I expected." I say with a raised eyebrow. "Am I missing something?"

"Shepard, you are the only reason any of us are breathing." he says, still smiling. "The only reason we have Earth back, the Genophage is cured, and the geth war ended peacefully. You've accomplished more in the last four years than the Alliance has in thirty and most of the galaxy in the last thousand. You've earned a retirement, as has all of your crew. I won't turn you into a Jon Grissom and parade you around until you hate it. So enjoy the R&R. I'll probably be joining you in the next year or so."

"You're retiring, too?"

"The moment I can. I've been wanting to retire well before the Reapers came. As soon as we have order in the Alliance, I'm promoting whoever's under me and leaving to spend time with my wife."

"I didn't even know you were married." Joker says, just as surprised as I am.

"She's a very forgiving woman." he laughs quietly. "I left her aboard the Crucible when I took helm of the Normandy. She's awaiting my return when I leave here. I cleared my schedule so that we have just the one night off, and the mess officers have prepared all of her favorites. I'm going to try to make up these last few months to her."

"I think anybody with someone they care about have the same plans." I chuckle. "Tali's just as ready for me to be out as I am. Even spending the night up here doesn't make up for being stuck in this hospital."

"What, afraid you won't be able to pull it off with other people listening?" Joker fires back with a grin.

I laugh and shake my head. "Afraid of what the nurses will do out of retribution. Kasumi gave them flash bangs when she found out about the "no coitus" clause of being admitted into the hospital. I know both the nurse that watches me and Chakwas will toss a few in here without a second thought."

"Still afraid of the good doctor?"

"She enjoys cutting me open. She asked regularly to peel back all of my skin to see what the implants did. I still sleep with one eye open." Everyone laughs lightly at the joke. I don't think they realize I'm serious. "And the implication of someone else listening isn't the biggest deterrent. Garrus told me that, apparently, he could hear us down in the main battery."

"That may not be completely impossible, Commander." EDI says. "The acoustic readings in the other sections of the Normandy make this outcome plausible, though unlikely."

My eyes go a little wide. "You monitor those kinds of things?"

"I did not spy on you during your sexual relationships with Tali. I am simply stating that, based on the sound waves of your vocal patterns and the noise dampening of the ship, the sounds could possibly have been heard as low as the cargo bay."

"I don't think it went that far. Vega would have given me nine kinds of hell for it if he did."

"Never know, Shepard." Joker smiles.

"Moving on." I state as quickly as I can. "What's the situation with the Crucible? Since Brynn and Kasumi have both met up with me, I know it didn't kill anyone working on it. But what did it actually do?"

Hackett leans forward and sets his chin on his knuckles. "The techs went over the readings, but they're lost. The best they can figure is when the Crucible linked up with the Citadel, it used all of the energy from the station to power a massive, controlled EMP blast. The frequencies that it was fired on were unique to Reaper command signals and indoctrinations. Basically, it overloaded the Reapers and made each send out a self-destruct code before using their communications to send the signal to the next Reaper. The destruction of each Reaper caused a similar EMP blast from itself, taking anything severely controlled by the Reaper with it. Any ground forces caught in the blast immediately disintegrated as the Reaper tech inside them melted down. Indoctrinated soldiers that didn't have implants were freed and restored to their former selves."

"But how does that work? Vigil said that anyone that was indoctrinated when the Reapers left were just mindless husks. Why wouldn't these people be any different?"

"Liara and I have been pondering that." EDI explains, taking the stage. "The longer that one is under control of the Reapers, the more of their mind is corrupted by their influence. As Saren was under control for more time than Matriarch Benezia, our theory is that the newer slaves were less corrupted than the slaves from the end of the Prothean cycle. The slaves from the Prothean cycle probably experienced what the survivors are experiencing: freedom, but not quite their original minds. These new survivors are all claiming that they are free, but missing some of their memories and preferences, and the statistics show that the longer the control was implemented, the farther their mind was corrupted. Since the Protheans were exterminated over the course of several hundred years, the indoctrination was most likely longer. When the Reapers left the range of control of the indoctrinated, there was not enough left for them to truly be sentient. Our saving grace was that we repelled the invasion in under six months. If the war had lasted longer, we may have not had that luxury."

"I can see that." I nod. Granted Saren was implanted by Sovereign, but he still fought the control for less time than Benezia did. All he did was manage to blow his brains out, while she managed to give us the data, explain what was going on, and say goodbye to her daughter. "What's going to happen to the Crucible now? We can't leave it attached to the Citadel forever."

"The Alliance plans to decommission her." Hackett says. "We'll take a majority of the materials and use them for rebuilding the fleets. However, Traynor did give me an idea: we'll turn it into a museum for the Reaper War. Fill each wing of the station with souvenirs and such from every front, then turn the massive center into a tribute to the fallen."

"Not a bad idea. Get all the races involved, help keep some diplomacy, use it to show what happens when we all work together."

"My thoughts exactly, Commander."

I stand up and offer a hand to the admiral. "I shouldn't keep you any longer. If you only have the night off, your wife deserves you more than I do."

He chuckles lightly and accepts the help up. "I appreciate it, Shepard. I'm sure my wife will want to thank you."

"You'll have to do that for me." I smile. "Take care, Admiral."

"Call me Steven. You deserve it." he says with a warm, fatherly smile and shake.

"How about we go halfway and say Hackett? You just don't look like a Steven to me."

"I can live with that." He pats me on the back and turns to the door. "Come on, Captain Flight Lieutenant. I need my ride back to the Crucible."

"On your six, Admiral." Joker says and immediately stands up. "Come on, EDI."

She starts to stand up when I stop her with a hand. "Would you guys mind if I talk to her for just a second alone? I need her help with a favor, and it's a little personal."

Joker looks down at her for a second, concern on his face. The same face I always give Tali when it comes to her. EDI takes his hand in hers and holds it tightly. "I will be fine, Jeff. I'll be right behind you."

"All right." he surrenders. He bends down, gives her a small kiss on her forehead, and follows Hackett out the door.

EDI stands up as the door closes. "The plans that you wanted me to prepare for your return to the Normandy have all been seen to. Only things that cannot be done until that day have yet to be completed. Is there some other topic you wish to discuss?"

"I lied." I say immediately. "I don't need a favor. I just need to... get something off of my chest."

"Is there something wrong?" she asks, her voice a little quieter.

I sigh and try to explain it. "When I was running for the Citadel, back on Earth, just after Harbinger shot me, I was knocked out. I don't know how long, but... The Reapers tried to indoctrinate me, I think. I had this dream as real as life: felt pain, cold, warm. I thought what was happening in the dream was what was actually going on and...

"When I was on the Citadel... I saw this child, the one that I saw die back when we left Earth. He was like a ghost or something, but... he told me that I could use the Crucible to do one of three things to stop the Reapers. The first was sacrifice myself to control them. Apparently, my spirit or something would make them stop and I would be in complete control of them. The second was integrate the Reaper DNA and synthetic DNA into organic DNA. It would be like the final evolution of life, where the machinery and blood are all one thing. I don't know the details, but it sounded like the most peaceful solution... but I ignored it. I chose the third choice... That was to destroy the Reapers... But it would also kill every synthetic in the galaxy. The geth, probably every mech and VI... and you..."

It almost looks like there's shock on on her face. "Are you saying... that you had a dream where you killed me?"

"Basically..." I shake my head. "As soon as I made the choice, I woke up on Earth. It has to be indoctrination. It's the only thing that makes sense, but... That's not the point."

She quiet for a few seconds, just staring at me with those unmoving eyes. "Then what is the point? Why are you telling me this?" she asks softly.

"Because, EDI... I made the choice to kill you. I decided that combining the DNA's wasn't the right choice, and that controlling them wasn't right... I thought that your life wasn't worth some future with the Reapers even involved in it... I mean, I know that you're alive and everything but... For all intents and purposes, I killed you. I don't know if I'm asking for forgiveness or what, just... I'm sorry, EDI. I am truly sorry."

She does something in the next second that I never would have expected: he hugs me. She walks over to me, slides her arms under mine, and gives me a hug. Almost like when Tali found her father and I held her...

"You have nothing to apologize for." she says. "You made your choice, so that others could have the freedom that I have. Because of you, I feel alive. You wanted to make sure the rest could. There is nothing wrong with what you did."

I slowly start to hug her back. "Thank you... I had to tell you. But please, don't tell anyone else. You and Tali are the only ones who know, and I would really like to keep it that way."

"It's not a problem, Aaron." she smiles as she lets go. "Thank you for telling me. Anyone else would have kept that information a secret."

"You deserve to know. I owe you that much."

"No, you don't. You are still my captain. You owe me nothing."

"Thanks. And you'll have a new captain in a little while." I chuckle, thinking about Joker. "Make sure you take care of him. He could use someone."

"I will. I will not give you details, but you are not the only one with plans for their significant other."

Joker finally opens the door and sticks his head in. "You guys done yet?"

"Just finished, Joker." I say. "Thanks for taking care of that misinformation, EDI. And for helping me fix my plans."

"It is what I'm here for." she smiles back. "If you'll excuse me..."

She walks over to Joker, who immediately puts an arm over her shoulder. "What'd you talk about?" he asks just loud enough for me to hear, but soft enough for me to know it was supposed to be a secret.

She turns her head and looks at him. "The Commander was debating which Kama Sumatra position to attempt with Tali."

The moment the door closes, I fall on the bed, laughing hard enough for my ribs to hurt. That's EDI. Then, my omni-tool lets off a beep. I open it up, and check the notifications: Tali's sent me a text back.

"Thank you for thinking of me. Those songs made me cry a little too. I'm sorry that I couldn't be back with you sooner. I promise that you will never have to play those songs again. I will never be far away from you again, and you will never be anywhere without me.

"As for the waiting, I could tell you a hundred reasons. I could say that you did the same for me, waiting for me to say I was interested and waiting for me to come back to the Normandy. I could say that after all we have been through, a few brief months of waiting are nothing. I could say that I would wait forever for you. But I won't. The best way to say all of these things is this."

There's a small audio file attached to the end of the message. It takes a few heartbeats for it to load. When it's done, I hear silence before Tali's sweet voice comes in. "I love you, Aaron."

The rest of her text appears when the audio ends. "I still expect you to make this wait worth it."

I save the message and the audio permanently into my omni-tool. Then, I grab my guitar and start playing _Be Still My Heart._

* * *

_Here Without You _is by 3 Doors Down.

_Far Away _is by Nickelback.

_Wait for Me_ is by Theory of a Deadman.

And _Be Still My Heart_ is by State of Man.


	12. The Final Night of Captivity

Day before the conference, I finally sucked it up and invited Raan to come. Tali wanted to tell her, and I figured we ought to do it together. I might break the marriage thing to her if she promises to keep it quiet, but... Let's ease into the relationship thing first. If Korris kept his word, she should still be completely clueless.

I sent Tali a message to bring her up to the room. She was already clued in and all for the plan at that point. She said she would break it to her, but she didn't tell me how much before she got there. And then Shala was looking over her shoulder, so she couldn't answer any more messages. They finally showed up at about seven, just as the sun was going down. To say I was nervous when they got there was an understatement.

Tali walks into the room in her usual suit with Raan on her heels... At least I think Quarians call them that too. Shala's got on the suit she wore when we met during the trial, and seems more relaxed than she has in the last few times I've seen her.

"Hey, baby girl." I say, walking over to Tali and giving her a hug. "Missed you."

She hugs me back and leans her head on mine. "I missed you too."

"How much did you tell her?" I whisper, hoping my soon-to-be aunt-in-law can't hear.

"She knows we're together. That's all." she whispers back before letting go.

"It's good to see you again, Commander." Shala says from behind Tali. "Tali told me about your injuries. I'm glad to see you have recovered."

"I'm glad I can say the same to you, Admiral. I remember you having a bit of a rough landing on Rannoch." I finally force myself to let go, making Tali retreat to a few feet to my right.

"Ah, yes. It was nothing serious, but I was shaken up for a little while. The sight of geth primes helping us didn't convince me that I was lucid." All three of us chuckle a bit.

"I believe Tali brought me up here to meet her boyfriend?" she asks sarcastically. "When did this start?"

"Do you mean when did we first start being a couple? Or when did I become interested in your niece?" I fake with a chuckle.

"I would prefer the answer to both, if it's not much trouble."

Tali starts rubbing her hands, showing the nerves I have in my gut. Even dating as a kid, I never made a good impression on parents.

"Well, we started dating after her trial, which is a Hell I don't want to go through again, if it can be avoided. And honestly, I've had a bit of a crush on her ever since I met her. Even back then, she was more than a little cute."

"Hmm..." Shala nods approvingly while Tali continues to wring her fingers. Ok. So far, so good.

"And when did you start sleeping with her?"

Tali and I both stop moving completely. Oh, shit.

"Uh... Parent answer, or-or honest answer?" I manage to half-joke, half-choke out.

"You would have to lie for both of those to be the same answer, wouldn't you?" she says, her voice not flinching and making my nerves worse.

"Yeah... The night before our mission against the Collector base. And she has been the only one since then. That's the truth."

She leans over a little closer and examines me for a few tense seconds. Had a girlfriend's dad do that once, a retired Marine assault specialist. She scares me more. It's either the fact I can't see her face, or it's the fact I'm marrying her family.

She finally hugs me. "I can't say I didn't expect this after your trial, Tali." Shala chuckles. "I could tell by the way he spoke for you and how the two of you acted afterward. You did find a good one."

Tali freezes in her tracks, then busts out laughing. "This is the first one you've approved of, Auntie." she gasps out between laughs.

Raan laughs too, and I join in awkwardly. "So does this mean I won't get anymore glares?" I ask.

"We'll see." she chuckles lightly before letting me go. "Have you been taking care of my Tali?"

"Shala, I would do anything for that girl behind you. I love her, and I never feel like I can tell her that enough."

She turns around and faces Tali. "So that explains why you were obsessing over what to get him."

"Raan, please..." Tali mutters, trying to shush her.

"Oh... It was going to be a surprise..." the aunt's voice drops in shame.

I try to be a little cute and make both of them feel better. "I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention. Did you two say something?"

It takes Tali a few seconds, but she gets it. She walks over and gives me a hug. "Thank you... I want it to be special." she whispers.

"No problem, baby girl." I whisper and hug back. "I got a little surprise for you later tonight."

"And now you're making me wait until she leaves, aren't you?"

. "It'll be worth it. I promise."

"Do I need to leave the two of you alone?" Raan laughs from beside us, closer than I figured.

"We can wait." I chuckle, moving one arm away and the other over Tali's shoulder. "I'm sorry. I tend to forget about everybody else if Tali's in the room."

"That's far better than the other way around. You have found one you need to hang on to, Tali."

"I plan on it." Tali giggles and leans a little closer on my shoulder while her hand slides around my back.

"Is there anything you want to ask me, since this is kind of the "meet the family" thing? Plans, education, paycheck, criminal history?" I manage to get a laugh out of everybody with the last one.

Raan regains her composure almost immediately, but still keeps it light-hearted. "I know most of it already, Aaron. We ran a check on you when Tali joined your crew the first time. But I am curious what you plan to do after all of this."

"Well, you'll have to wait until the press conference tomorrow like everybody else. I'm sorry, but I don't want to ruin it for anyone."

She sighs with a little disappointment. "As you wish. But I will be there personally to see it, for your information."

"Just make sure you have a chair ready to catch you when it comes around."

"Now that has me a little worried. But I will take your advice, and I expect to have dinner with the two of you soon. Am I clear?"

"Crystal, ma'am." I say, firing off a salute with my free arm. Another round of laughs go around.

"I will see the two of you again soon. But for now, I have to help Han'Gerrel with the concept that the Turians and the Geth are friendly before he starts another war... And I have a small debt I need to pay off. Take care, Tali."

"I will, Auntie Raan."

"And one last thing, Aaron..." she says, her voice lowering and glaring at me. Then she points an accusing finger at me. "If I find out you break her heart, or you do anything to her, I will rain down a Hell on you the Reapers could not have fathomed. I am the only family she has, and I will protect her. Do we understand each other?"

"Perfectly." I say, trying to keep my voice from shaking a little. The only time a woman's scared me this bad was when my mom drew a shotgun on me for sneaking into her liquor cabinet.

"Good." she nods. "I will see you tomorrow." She turns around and walks out the door.

The moment the door closes, I wrap Tali in a hug and start to breathe normally again. "I thought she'd never leave." I sigh. "Think I made a good impression?"

Tali takes her mask off, sets it on the bed, and kisses my cheek. "You were perfect. She's never liked any of my boyfriends, even when I was little."

"Just how many are we talking about?" I chuckle, pulling my head back and kissing her lips.

"None that ever got past the suit. You don't have to worry." she laughs and kisses me more.

I run my hand down the back of her head, pushing back her hood and freeing her hair. "I thought you weren't going to take your mask off. You didn't want to be sick for the first night back."

"I took a few boosters an hour ago." she answers immediately. "I won't get sick. I only wish you were out tonight instead of tomorrow."

"It's just as much torture for me... Are you sure you'll be ok?"

She puts her forehead on mine. "I promise. I've been working on a program with the geth to replace them as the vaccines in our suits. We've been making simple VIs to act as individual viruses to adapt our systems to them, rather than tasking a truly sentient being with it. The project works perfectly, and I've been using the VIs on myself, as well as a few thousand other volunteers."

"So... You'll be able to walk around without your suit soon?" I ask, sounding far more desperate than I intended. But if she really can live without her suit... There just aren't words to describe it.

"No." she says softly and solemnly. "So far, we've only adapted to common ailments to Quarians and the natural viruses of Rannoch. The program has strengthened my immune system overall, but we have yet to work out the bugs for the allergic reactions from cross-species contact. For the moment, after enough time on Rannoch and more of the therapy, I won't get sick among other Quarians or on Rannoch."

"I guess that's just another motivator to go build us a house, huh?" I joke with a slight smile. "How would that be for our honeymoon? Our first night in our brand new house, still in a dress and tuxedo?"

"That's the best idea I've ever heard." she softly laughs. "I promise I'll be perfectly healthy tomorrow. All of the time you've kept me out of the mask here has made my immune system more resilient against common human bacteria. This is the first time I've take the boosters or antibiotics, and the worst I've had is a slight cold for two days."

"Ok, baby girl." I say with another kiss. "I worry about you. I don't want you to suffer for me."

"I won't, Aaron. Now, what was that surprise you were being so secretive about?"

"Just wait another ten seconds."

I let go of her and pull out my omni-tool. On my command, two movie theater seats on wheels roll out from behind the bed and to the middle of the room. Then, a small projector pops out of the bottom and calibrates itself to fit on the bare wall. I close all of the blinds and turn off the lights while Tali watches curiously. Everything's ready when I pull out the two bags of popcorn and soda for the owner's species.

Tali makes the connection when she sees the start screen for the movie appear on the wall."You're trying to recreate our first date." she concludes with a slight laugh.

"Kind of." I chuckle and hand over her soda and popcorn. "It's not the same movie, but I thought you might like this."

Instead of A Quarian's Dilemma, the screen shows a young black man in an Alliance uniform holding a young Quarian close against him. The name Burdens is scrolled above their heads, and little hearts surround the play button.

"What is this?" she laughs out loud.

"It's not as corny as you might think... Ok, maybe it is. When we went to the movies on Illium, an asari movie producer had been there and saw us. She recognized both of us from the vids got an idea. She sent me a message, and I told her about us being together. She said she thought we could be the next Fleet and Flotilla.

"I told her to go ahead and try, so long as she didn't use our names or anything. Turns out the movie out sold and out ranked Fleet and Flotilla and got more "Movie of the Year" awards than anyone could have believed. As a way of saying thank you, she sent me a copy, autographed by all of the stars and herself, along with a twenty thousand credit transfer. I thought maybe you'd like to see the movie you inspired."

"Keelah, you're serious, aren't you?" she giggles and hugs me. "How am I just now hearing about this?"

"The movie came out towards the end of last year, just barely making the cut for the year's awards. It was really big on Earth and the Citadel, but I think you guys were a little busy prepping for Rannoch. I can show you the reviews and the case to the video if you don't believe me."

"I might have to so I can believe this."

I reach into my back pocket and pull out the case with the autographs. "See for yourself."

She rolls the case over in her hands, looking over the signatures. "Oh, you got Dani'Kalen's autograph!" she squeals with delight. "I love her movies!"

"Guess what the best part is."

"What?"

"She plays you."

I'm ninety-nine percent sure her chin would've hit the ground if her jaw could stretch that far. "Oh, KEELAH!" she screams, bouncing up and down like a little kid. I pull her a little closer before she jumps through the roof. We're both laughing our heads off when the nurse comes in to make sure we aren't doing anything naughty. It takes almost five minutes to get her to breathe again.

"Come on." I chuckle. "Let's watch the movie."

She still bounces a little in her chair when the vid starts, but she finally calms down enough to actually watch it. The movie obviously takes cues from our missions that were public and from us. The human, a Captain Devaraux, is a sole survivor from his unit on Elysium and an orphan. He picks up the Quarian, Dani'Verris, when his crew raids an assassin's hideout, hoping to stop a plot to destroy the Citadel and kill the Council. Instead, after being separated form the ship and the crew, the duo have to rely on a couple of mercs for back-up as they track down the rest of the assassins before they can complete the deed.

Once I get over the obvious things they ripped off from us (am I thankful I didn't tell her more than we were a couple), it really is a good movie. The captain spends most of the movie trying to deal with his nightmares about the men he lost during the Blitz while the Quarian battles her feelings about Devaraux and working with complete strangers. He is interested in her, but he's too busy trying to keep everyone alive to really admit it. She slowly breaks him down until he comes out and says it, and they're lovers by the end of the movie. And the true sign it was a good flick: I almost cried when I thought Dani was going to die. Tali was laughing like crazy when she saw me tearing up.

And as great as it was, my favorite part wasn't in the movie. There was a lull about twenty minutes in, where the movie first started to hint at a relationship between the two. Dani was subtly flirting with the Captain while he was trying to figure whether to focus on her or the data he got from the last mission. I, feeling romantic and a little cheesy, faked a yawn and laid my arm over Tali's shoulder. She didn't even bother playing any games or jokes: she leaned over, right into my shoulder.

We spent the rest of the movie getting closer and closer. When the credits finally rolled, she was practically in my lap, almost asleep. I held her hand from over her shoulder when she decided to part my fingers and weave hers into mine. I leaned my head into the top of hers.

"How did you get the chairs in here?" she asks softly, trying to stay awake.

"Liara ordered them from Illium. If you ask for it and have the credits, someone on Illium has it." I chuckle in her ear. "And no, these aren't the same chairs we had our date in. If I could remember which ones we were in, I might've tried. Took them about two weeks to get here."

"You've been planning this for two weeks?"

"Off and on. I thought you deserved something for dealing with me in here."

She moves her head and kisses me. We both laugh barely, not ending the contact. We stay like that for at least ten minutes, lightly kissing without saying a word.

"I don't feel like moving to the couch." Tali whispers when she finally stops. "Can we sleep here?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing."

She reaches behind us, grabs the sheet from the bed, and covers both of us.

"I love you, Aaron." she says softly before kissing me again.

"I love you, Tali." I answer when she pulls back.

She returns back to her spot against me and relaxes. My arms go under hers and wrap around her stomach while my head leans against hers. She falls asleep just before I do.


	13. Informing the Rest of the Galaxy

I go over my mental checklist for the last time as the reporters start to file in the door. I have a handful of notes for my speech, in case I forget anything. My dress blues are clean and pressed. I look as best I can. There are chairs for everyone that should be coming, with a little bit of overflow room. The crew's section to the side is here and all members are accounted for. The speech part seems to be planned for. EDI and Cortez both assured me that everything else was taken care of. Here's hoping that plan goes off without a hitch.

I takes almost ten minutes for the hundred or so reporters and dignitaries to find their seats. There's no shoving or rude remarks that can be heard, even with almost every sentient race in here. I feel bad for the poor rachni worker in the back row, sitting next to a krogan. But nothing bad happens, and a few hundred eyes stare at me in curiosity and expectation.

"Would Miss Emily Wong please come up here?" I ask the microphone, which triples my volume on command.

The reporter in question rises from one of the more forward rows and slowly walks up the aisles. She's aged quite a bit since I last saw her four years ago. She still looks like she can't be more than forty, but some lines are starting to form around her eyes and mouth. Her haircut remains the same short black, and she looks like she's wearing the exact same pink outfit she had when we met. She must think it's her lucky outfit or something.

She finally gets on the stage, the small camera hovering behind her. She smiles as she offers her handshake. "I appreciate this, Commander." she says softly.

I turn the mic off before accepting the shake. "It's my pleasure, Emily. I owed you, after all."

"I thought you were joking when you said you'd give me an exclusive interview. You have no idea how surprised I was to hear from you."

"I don't break a promise. As long as you haven't aired that interview yet."

She shakes her head no. "It's been edited and saved, ready to be shown. You said not to show it until the end of this conference?"

"That's right. I appreciate that. Allers already wants my hide for not giving her the scoop of what I'm going to say. You ready to have a front row seat for the action?"

"Been ready for four years, Commander."

I return to the crowd and turn the mic back on. For once last bit of motivation, I steal a glance at Tali, sitting between Garrus and Kasumi. She gives me a little wave in an attempt to help me calm down. I send her a smile, and she nods back. Man, I love that girl...

Feeling ready to take on the world, I turn back to the reporters. "First off, I would like to thank everyone for coming out here. I apologize for any problems that hospital security may have given you. The idea of having krogan, rachni, and geth in their building made them a little uneasy."

I earn a small chuckle from the crowd, while some of them look around and realize how many different races we actually have in here. I wait for the eyes to return to me before continuing. "I would like to begin with a few moments of silence. For everyone that we have lost because of this damned war. So, if you would please..."

The room bows their heads simultaneously, not a whisper a among them. I close my eyes and dip my own head down. The moment I do, the thoughts of everyone lose hits me. Jenkins comes first... how excited the Corporal was to be on a mission with Nihlus, a real Spectre... the way that he was almost like a little kid, ready for Christmas morning... Haven't had another member of the team with the same... enthusiasm, as Karin explained it.

Then Kaidan comes. The somber, kind Lieutenant who never lost control or his nerve. A man who volunteered his life without a second thought to save the rest of us... his stories about Jump Zero, his protection of that girl, even against a turian commander... what we her name? Amanda? No... Rahna. Or at least something like that... He knew that I would save him, but he chose to stay and get Ash out. How many officers would do that for their soldiers?

Mordin's grinning face appears in my mind. What a freak. Talked a hundred miles an hour, worked twice as fast, an absolute genius, and one of the best singers I've ever met. "I am the very model of a scientist Salarian..." Some morals, but knew that he had to get his hands dirty to keep order... That finally changed with Bakara. He realized how bad the genophage was and set out to cure it. He stopped trying to rationalize his actions and do the right thing. Hell of a man... Not perfect, but still a good man... and a friend...

And then I think about Thane. Made a hell of a first impression in the Towers. Found there was more and more to the man as we talked... I never expected the religious side of him, or having a family and a son. I still don't completely agree with the way he ignored the blame of all the people he's killed. I have trouble forgiving myself for the mercs that come after us, even when they drew first. To just say that killing them wasn't my choice doesn't make it better. But still... Thane was special. He accepted his sins and still tried to make up for them. He made his last prayer for me instead of himself... Only a true man would do that.

Legion... That stupid robot was one-of-a-kind. Any other geth would have attacked me the moment I dropped the shield around him. He could have killed me on the Reaper, or almost any other time he chose. His reasons may have been practical, but most people would have shot me on sight when they saw the mass murderer of several hundred of their race walking around. More still, he trusted me with helping him stop the heretics. How many would do that? And Tali and him talking, learning to get along... How he trusted me to save his people... then calmly killing himself to help them... He wasn't just a machine. He was a part of the crew and my friend, just like everyone else on the ship.

Dozens of other faces start coming. Friends from other ships that were lost, my family, Akuze, Anderson... I finally shake the thoughts out. I can't deal with that. Not now. I've already mourned them all, but the wound will take time to completely heal. I just have to keep going.

"Thank you all." I say into the mic, making everyone else pick their heads up. "I know that... no amount of kind words or sentiment can bring these people back to us. I know that no matter how much we pray and cry and dream it to be just some horrible nightmare, it won't change. We still wake up without our mother or father, brother or sister, lover or spouse, or just a great friend... But it's because of them that we can continue. The least that we can give them is acknowledgment for their sacrifice. We owe them that. And to honor them, we have to make this galaxy better than it was when they left."

There's a few scattered comments among the crowd, but for the most part, they stay quiet and watching me. I sigh to myself one more time and steal another glace at Tali for motivation before continuing. "The reason I asked for this press conference is to take care of a laundry list worth of things I need to do. The first is ask you all to calm down some with the emails. The Alliance is bugging me now because my account is taking up over twenty percent of their server storage. So if you all can wait for a few days for me to get another account set up specifically for that, that would be very much appreciated."

I earn a few slight chuckles in the room again, and some take notes on datapads or omni-tools, but still keep their eyes glued to me. "Thank you for the laughs. I'm trying to keep this fairly light-hearted, so I'll alternate between serious and comical issues. So, following that pattern, the next topic I need to hit is a thank you. To every race in this room.

"Every single species helped us in some form in this war. The volus donated several bombing fleets and more credits than I can count. The rachni were immensely helpful in building the Crucible. The geth and the Quarians were some of the greatest evac teams I've ever seen. Even the batarians, who have every reason in the galaxy to want to see Earth burn, sent us what was left of their fleets to help us. That isn't counting all of the soldiers from the krogan, turians, asari, humans, and everyone else who were either in the fleets or on the ground right in the middle of it. Everybody owes each and every one of these brave men and women who stuck their necks out into the Hell of war, just to save our homes.

"But also, we have to think about these unities that we had for this war. I mean everybody stop and look around. We have salarians, rachni, turians, and krogan all in the back row over there." I point out the small group in the back. "When was the last time any of them could be in the same room without a small war? Every race there has a reason to hate the other. And yet, they don't. There's no fighting, no arguments, no rude comments or even mean jokes. Why? Because they finally put their differences aside to do something worthwhile."

I move my finger towards the middle of the crowd. "And look. A good friend of mine, Admiral Shala'Raan vas Rannoch, and a geth diplomat, Hermes, are sitting side by side today. Before this war, how many Quarians would let the geth in the same system, let alone into the chair next to them? How many of us would all have drawn weapons on that hunter right there? I guarantee you, that each and every one of us would either get the hell out of this room or try to kill that geth. Why? The same reason the salarians, rachni, turians, and krogan are all sitting together without a bloodbath occurring: we all stopped focusing on just fighting each other and focused on doing something.

"I know that not all of us will ever get along; I'm not that naïve. But we don't need wars and fights every five minutes just because of race issues. We need to look at all what we accomplished by working together. The genophage is cured, the Quarians have Rannoch again, with new, friendly geth neighbors, and we sent the Reapers back to Hell! Think about that! Think about how, in less than six months, by working together, we've made more progress than the last thousand years combined! Why can't we do that? Why can't we try go a few centuries without a war? Why can't we just try to work together? The results of all that are right here to see. This is what we gain from standing as one, instead of standing against each other.

"So this is what I'm asking: for us to try harder for peace. I'm not just talking to the diplomats, or the media, or even the boss of the local fast food chain. I'm talking to every single average Joe and Jane walking down the street on their way to work, or back home to their family. Try to get along with the other races. Don't look down on the volus because they have to take in deep breaths every four words. Don't assume that a krogan will want to fight just because he's a krogan. Don't call a Quarian a "suit rat." If you're fighting with someone because of who they are, that's fine. But fighting just because of their DNA isn't. I've served with the finest soldiers of every species I can think of, and I know that we're no different. They're jerks and saints, just like us... So please... for everyone we've lost, for all of the children that will be born in a Reaper free galaxy... Can we try to make this work?"

There's a breathtaking silence when I finish my speech, as over two hundred eyes all stare at me. Then, they all stand. The room shakes with the applause and cheering from every person in the room. I let out a deep breath and a smile as the nerves relax. Glad I haven't lost my touch with speeches. I look over to Tali again, and she gives me a little thumbs up. I laugh to myself at what I assume is a smile under that helmet of hers.

The cheering last for another three minutes before the crowd takes their seats back in near silence. Everyone is still watching, but they're expressions have changed from stressed and analytical to slightly relaxed, almost happy. I wait for everyone to be comfortable again, and then I keep going with the speech.

"Thank you. I'm glad to know that I can still give a half-decent rally speech. Never imagined that I'd be giving that to a roomful of reporters, but..." A handful of laughs answer my sarcasm. "Anyway. One of the other reasons for this conference is to address a few thousand emails I have.

"Many writers, painters, movie producers, and paparazzi have all contacted me in an attempt to have me be a part of their project. I spent a good bit of time in recovery combing through these names and finding who does what with their art. With the help of EDI, I will be sending out emails to all of those that have caught my eye, whether it be for their particular talent, or just because I like them, and only they will be able to use me directly for their information and input. And if someone else comes along at another time with another idea, they have to get approval from the first group for me to get in contact with them. I'm not trying to suppress creativity or something like that. I just want to have a life of my own that doesn't involve being dragged around to sets or somewhere else. I won't copyright my name, so people can do unofficial movies and such. A small piece of the profits would be nice, though. I do have to eat."

The laughter is far less than my other jokes, but audible nonetheless. "As for my plans, other than trying to hide from the press for the rest of my life. The first is I am retiring from the Alliance, as well as from the Spectres. I don't want anything to do with the coming governments as they rebuild. I don't want to be the new councilor, the admiral in charge of the Alliance, or even be the captain of a ship anymore. I've put in the required years for me to retire completely by the rules, and that is something I feel like I need to do. I'm sorry if some of you didn't expect me to do this, or wanted me to be in charge of their unit, but... my life hasn't been easy. It never has, and I've dealt with it. But with everything else, and then the last four years... All I want to do is retire to a little house, have my little white picket fence, and enjoy the rest of my life. After all of this, I hope you all can understand."

Everyone looks at me, the same look of sympathy on their faces. I guess that's one of the few things everyone can understand: bring tired and wanting to quit. Whether it's burnout, or some tragedy... We all have times when we just want to move on. Forget our current lives and find a new spot a couple hundred light years away. There's not a word exchanged between anyone in the room, but all of the eyes say the same thing: "it's ok." I sigh to myself before turning to the mic again. "Thank you."

I feel the side of my pocket, double checking for the thousandth time that the little box is there. It's still hiding... ready to come out and surprise the hell out of a lot of people. The other circle is in another pocket, yet to come out or be known by anyone but myself. Not even Garrus knows about it. Tali's watching me again. She's wringing her fingers like mad. I wonder if she's caught on just yet...

"For me to close out this conference, there's one more thing that I have planned. It's one last speech. It isn't some big, dramatic rally cry, or something that means the galaxy to someone else, but... Well, there's one person I hope really enjoys this.

"I was asked a lot of things over the course of the war. What made me think I could beat the Reapers? What was I planning on doing when I got a chance to relax? What the hell was I thinking, summoning the mother of all thresher maws to fight a destroyer? I was asked that last one a lot, but... The most common question I was asked was why. Why anything? Why did I carry the biggest sniper rifle I could find? Why was my armor blue? Why did I think I had a chance in this war?

"With all of those questions, I noticed a theme. I very rarely answered "I don't know." I didn't just shrug it off. I always had a motivation, a driver behind what I did. Why the Black Widow? Three soldier killing bullets per clip. Why was my armor blue? My great-grandfather, who served in the Navy back on Earth, his dress uniform was blue, and making mine somewhat like his was my way of honoring him. Why did I think I could beat the Reapers? Because I had the best in the galaxy at my side, united under one banner, ready to send them back to Hell. I always had something in my head or in my heart, giving me a reason to continue on.

"Motivations like these are why I fought in every conflict I was thrown in. I could stop and think of something, and that thought would keep me going. I have always had a stake in the fight. And with that stake, I made sure to win.

"But now... I have a different motivation. For once, if I think about going back into a skirmish or a fight, my first thought isn't about what I need to fight for. My drive to go in and get the job done... it isn't there anymore. What is there is a completely new motivation. What this motivation is telling me to do... is to stop fighting. Don't stick my neck out. Don't rush into something just because I hear bullets. Don't tempt death... For the first time in my life, something is making me want to stop fighting.

"It took me a little while to figure out what it was, but I did. It wasn't a what. It was a who."

I look over to Tali back in her chair. She looks almost paralyzed in shock. "Would Tali'Zorah vas Rannoch please come up here?" I ask the microphone.

With the help of Garrus and Kasumi, the poor girl finally stands up. She slowly walks down the side and up the stairs to the stage, wringing her hands the entire time. I smile at her, trying to help her nerves some.

She reaches the podium and stands in front of me, hands moving at a hundred miles an hour. "You ok, baby girl?" I ask softly, making sure the mic can't hear it.

"This is it, isn't it?" she whispers, her voice almost quivering.

"I told you it would be a little dramatic. And we are telling everyone at once." I smile.

"I don't know if I should hug you or kill you." she shakily laughs.

"We'll see." I return my attention to the rest of the room. "For those of you who don't know, this is Tali'Zorah vas Rannoch. She's been on the Normandy through every campaign I've fought through since becoming a Spectre. She was Tali'Zorah nar Rayya when she joined me on the SSV Normandy and helped me stop Saren. She joined me in my fight against the Collectors, again changing her name, but to vas Normandy. And finally, because of her plans to live on the Quarian home-world of Rannoch, she will be vas Rannoch.

"This woman is just as responsible for all of my accomplishments as I am. She just didn't gain as much of the glory. Her combat drones and perfectly aimed shotgun rounds saved my life more times than I can count. She is also responsible for the amazing shields on the Normandy, hacking through Collector doors, and she is the most beautiful woman with a shotgun to ever serve on a ship. Without her, none of us would be here. She made all of this possible.

"But... she's more than that. To me, she's everything. She's my life, my future, my partner, and the woman I've fallen in love with over the last four years... She's my everything. She's the reason I want to stop fighting, the only reason I've ever had. Not because she asked me to... but because I want to be hers, and only hers. She deserves everything that I can give her. And right here, right now, I want to do just that."

I turn back to her. She's stopped wringing her hands, but they're still hanging in front of her, clenched tightly in fear. Emily's video drone floats to my left, getting a better view of the two of us. I take a step towards Tali and take her hands in mine. She stares at me as I look back at her.

"Tali... I love you. I know that I've told you that at least a hundred times, and I've tried to prove that every chance I've gotten. But no matter how many times I say it, no matter how much time I spend with you, or how much thought and credits I put into your presents... they never seem like they're enough. You've never complained, and you've loved them. I feel like they aren't enough... because they aren't as perfect as you are.

"Every single detail about you is another thing I'm in love with. Your laugh, your kindness, your amazing intelligence, your beauty... I could spend all of my life looking for a fault and never find one. There is no one who is nearly as perfect, as easy for me to fall in love with as you... I could go on for days. But I won't do that here. What I want to do is, over the rest of our lives, I want to tell you every reason, every chance I get. I want to spend the rest of my life with you... being yours."

I sigh once, just making sure I remember the Quarian vow. "The passage of time means nothing when I am with you. The planet we are on is pointless, as is what we had to suffer to reach this moment. What matters is this: I wish to spend the rest of my life with you. I do not care if we navigate the stars, float through dust, or merely lay under the home-world sun and watch it set. As long as it is with you, I will be content. You bring about feelings that I feel among no others, feelings of joy and peace that have no match. Because of these feelings, because of this love, I know that I can not live without you. And so I ask you..."

I slowly lower myself to one knee, letting go of only one hand to reach into my pocket. When I pull out the box, I swear that everyone in the room stops breathing. I let go of her other hand to reach across and slowly open the box. "Tali'Zorah... will you marry me?"

She freezes in place when she sees the ring. She stares in disbelief, even though I told her that I was going to get her the ring she deserved. I don't think she expected this. One of her hands slowly comes to her mouth and hovers there. I can only imagine the slightly open mouth and wide eyes under the mask...

"I will." she whispers.

I take her left hand, hanging by her side, and hold it in front of me. I push her index finger down until the outside finger hangs straight out in front. I slide the ring up, slowly making it slightly snug against her finger. The little jewel finds its resting spot just behind the last joint, matching her suit perfectly. The deep sapphire goes amazingly with the purple of her suit, and the gold of the thick band highlights it like a piece of art.

I stand up, not letting go over her hand and still watching her face. She lets out a small nervous laugh as I reach my feet again. I lean forward until my forehead almost touches her mask. Then, I pull the small ring out of my back pocket. Just a simple, classic engagement ring: a thin gold band with an even smaller diamond on top; a peasant's ring compared to hers. "I could use a little help with mine." I chuckle softly.

She takes it in her hand and rotates it for her to examine. "I don't understand." she says quietly. "Why did you get such a small ring for yourself?"

"Because I don't need a giant ring." I answer. "I have you. The only point of this ring is to show that I'm taken until I can marry you and put a real wedding band on with it."

"Thank you." she whispers. She picks up my left hand and holds it in front of her for a moment. Then she presses the other fingers down, leaving my ring finger up. The ring glides perfectly across my skin and mimics its partner in where it stays.

We stand there for a few moments, no one in the room breathing. Tali tackles me with a hug when I lunge for her. The room turns into a thunder of claps and applause when we start to cry on stage. Chairs shuffle and move as they stand up. I try to steal a glance at the crew, but the tears don't let me see anything besides a blur. It continues for I don't know how long... I really don't care.

When we finally let go, I reach for the mic for the beginning of my plan. "Thank you." I choke out through the tears. "If you will please excuse me, I have a new fiancee I need to cater to. However, I have a parting gift. The rest of my crew have all agreed to two hours of exclusive interviews for you. Feel free to mob them now. I have places to be. God bless you all."

The swarm sprints from their chairs to the crew standing on the side. My poor team gets the most priceless look of sheer terror on their face as Tali and I sneak out the front. I really should have warned them... But then, I never would have gotten this priceless moment.

"None of them agreed to that, did they?" Tali asks as we cross the main foyer of the hospital, tears still barely breaking her voice.

"Nope." I laugh. "They'll be fine. They'll make it out eventually. But for the next few hours, it'll just be you and me, baby girl."

The shuttle parked at the front door opens for us immediately. We climb in, still clinging to each other, while the auto-pilot flies us to the Normandy, parked only a few miles away. As we wait for the arrival, Tali asks all of the questions she can manage about the ring. She's still amazed by the concept and all of the details I put into it.

The shuttle docks in the bay of the Normandy without a hitch, landing not a smoothly as Cortez, but softly nonetheless. Tali tries to stand up and lead me to the exit, but I grab her and pick her up. She fakes a fight to get me off her, not really trying to hurt me, so much as foreplay now.

The elevator opens for us and automatically selects the loft level. When we reach the top deck, the elevator stops, but the doors don't open. EDI's blue holographic head appears where the lock usually does. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I thought now would be preferable to later." she says calmly.

"Just make it fast, EDI." I say. "I have bigger priorities than us needing to get fuel."

"Very well. To both of you, your plans have been implemented and will proceed as expected."

I look at Tali a little curiously. "You have a plan?"

"It's not one that you will find out tonight." Tali explains. "You don't have to give it any thought for today."

EDI glows a little brighter, gaining my attention again. "Also, there is a gift waiting for both of you on the other side of this door. The rachni requested the ability to thank you, and this was what we decided would be the best. I will leave you two for the afternoon, and most likely the night. Please ask if you require my help." And with that, she disappears.

I wonder about what the present is for a split second before the door open to the small room connecting the loft and the elevator. I carry Tali in before the door closes and I notice the new changes. "Decontamination in progress." a VI voice says as small sprayers on the new, more compact walls start to spray us. They installed a decontamination chamber between the two rooms... for Tali.

I look down at her, grinning widely. She lays her hand on the back of my head and pulls herself up a little. "I guess the rachni had a few ideas about what our plans were." I joke.

"They must have installed it for the other bacteria that comes into the room." Tali says, thinking quickly. "Like the hospital room. I was adapted to you, but not the others. Maybe with this, I can slowly work on my resistance to foreign antibodies."

"Anything to see my beautiful baby girl outside of her suit." I smile.

As if on cue, the door beeps and the lock turns green. We're clean. I reach down for Tali's mask, slowly removing the clamps on the bottom. Her perfect face appears with a slight hiss, smiling a mile wide. That joy of seeing her face is multiplied tenfold for just this moment. She takes the mask in one hand as I lean down and kiss her. She grabs my head and pulls me against her, kissing me as strongly as she can manage.

I only break the contact long enough to open the door and carry her inside the room. I see the table out of the corner of my eye from the second floor. A half-dozen trays and glasses are on top, both of our favorites in enough quantity to keep us content for two days. EDI kept up her end of the bargain and raided the mess as per my instructions. Tali grabs me again and forces me into another strong kiss. I kiss her back until she finally stops for air. I carry her down the stairs and lay her down on the bed before climbing on top of her.

When I reach down to remove the first arm of her suit, she stops me with a hand. I almost ask why, but she holds a finger up for me to wait. She takes her ring off, laying it on the bed. Then, she removes the entire arm of her suit and tosses it to the side. The last thing she does is take the ring and slide it back onto her now bare hand.

"I will never take this ring off." she softly explains with a smile.


	14. Home Again

For the song mentioned in the first half, look up "Heaven on Earth jazz song" on youtube. It will be low on the list, just a blue picture with just the name by it. I don't know why, but the site is not letting me post the link here. It cuts out the first half and leaves just the "watch?v=QYLWy6p6NUI" You can type that in with a backslash on youtube URL to get there, FYI. Blame fanfic for blocking website addresses.

* * *

I'm not sure what wakes me up again, but the first thing I see when I open my eyes is Tali's sleeping form on top of me. Her head is using my neck as a pillow and she still has me in a gentle hug. One of my hands is still on her arm, while the other is around the small of her back. I close my eyes again and focus on her rhythm, just the comfort of having her asleep on me. The gentle warmth that radiates from her skin, the rise and fall of her chest as she breathes, the quiet beat of her heart against my chest... What I wouldn't give to stay like this for days... Maybe I can get at least an hour out of her.

I rub my hand across her back, feeling her skin through the thin fabric of my old tank top. She decided that my clothes were more comfortable to sleep in after the second round last night. I don't mind: she looks great in a pair of my sweats. Although, my eye keeps getting drawn to the ring on her finger more than anything else...

I start to fuss with her hair, trying to keep it out of her face. The long, raven black bangs refuse to cooperate and continue to drift across her closed eyes. I almost surrender in defeat when she moans and starts to wake up. I lay the loose strands behind her ear and rub her cheek as she slowly regains consciousness.

Her red and white eyes finally blink open after a few more heartbeats and moans. She looks around for a moment before her eyes find mine. A sleepy smile forms on her face as she snuggles closer against me with new awareness. "Good morning." she grins.

"Morning, baby girl." I whisper back, reaching down and pulling the sheets over us more. "Is it nice to wake up to this pretty face?"

"I wouldn't call it pretty." she prods with a laugh.

"So, what? Ruggedly handsome? Gruff, but sexy? Devilishly good-looking?" I joke softly. My reward comes in the form of another soft giggle, followed by a kiss.

"I'll call it "cute" for the moment." she says after breaking the contact.

"You're the cute one in the relationship. I'm just supposed to scare off anyone who thinks they can flirt with you."

"But you do cute so well." she laughs. She lays her head down on my cheek and closes her eyes. "How did you sleep?"

"I've got the most beautiful woman in the galaxy in my bed, wearing my clothes and whispering "I love you" in my ear." I smile, sliding my hand across her cheek. "I thought I was dreaming."

She giggles a little, tightening her grip around me. "You say the sweetest things."

"So what about you? How'd you sleep?"

"I have the most wanted man in the galaxy holding me against him, kissing me every chance he gets and telling me "I love you" before each hug." she whispers with a smile. "It was the best sleep of my life."

She starts running her hand across my arm before making her nose barely graze mine. I use my left hand to rub that little silver ridge she has over her right eye while I kiss her eyelid. She softly moans and makes me smile.

"Do all humans do that?" she asks. "Do you always kiss your mate's eyelids?"

"Only when we really care about them." I say as I return to leaning my forehead on hers. "If a man kisses a woman on the cheek, it's a simple little affection display. If he kisses her lips, her's saying he likes her. A kiss on the forehead means he's protective. A kiss on the eyes means he loves her."

"Oh..." she smiles. "What does it mean when he kisses her neck?"

"It means he's suggesting something." I chuckle. I move and kiss her on her neck. She giggles seductively before kissing mine. It only takes a few seconds before we both pull back.

"I'll have to remember that." she says with the most suggestive smile I've ever seen.

"Think there's a lot of things we're going to have to learn." I say. "Two different races from two different cultures? We'll spend more time teaching each other than we will in bed."

"Do we have to get out of bed?" she quietly jokes.

"No. But only if you let me sleep a little longer before the next lesson. Round four took more out of me than I thought it would."

"Are you really that tired?" her voice going from joking to mildly concerned.

"A little. I'll be fine. I just want to make sure I don't disappoint."

"Ok." she nods. "I'll let you rest for an hour."

I use my left arm to reach back into the bedside table's cabinet. I pull out two wine glasses, one with a blue line on the rim, and the other with pink. I set the glasses on the table, and snag a bottle of wine from the same dresser. The red cork on top tells me it's Quarian wine, so I pour it in the pink-rimmed glass. I hand Tali the glass before using a separate bottle of asari wine I got as a gift for me.

She picks her head up just enough to sip the drink, trying not to leave my touch. Her content sigh that vibrates in my chest and herleft arm under me tightens the hug. I smile and laugh before sipping my wine again.

I raise my glass up a hair. "A toast." I say. "To a well-deserved retirement, and being able to spend the rest of my life with the woman I love."

Tali clinks her glass against mine. "To our new home on Rannoch, with my dashing Commander." she happily smiles before we take a sip.

An idea pops into my head, and I turn on the music speakers with my omni-tool. With a few quick taps, an old jazz song called "Heaven on Earth" starts to play softly in the room. The piano, mellow drums, bass guitar, and keyboard all mix together into a relaxing beat.

Tali's face changes from relaxed to curious when she first hears it, but she soon gives in to the song and lays more into my cheek. She sets her empty now glass on the table, in favor of using her hands to hug me again. I finish my last sip and do the same with my glass. I use my right arm to pull her closer against me while my left slides over to brush her hair from her face again.

"What do humans call this again?" she asks with a pleasant drowsiness in her voice. "Jazz?"

"Right." I half-whisper. "It's not the most popular kind of music, but it has a certain appeal for the right moments."

"I'll have to listen to more of it..."

"So you like it?"

"It's not something I would listen to while working on the engines, but..." She leans her head to the side, giving me another soft kiss across my lips. "It's very relaxing."

"Kind of what I was going for." I chuckle with a smile. "Ready to go back to sleep?"

"Let me do one thing first."

She surprises me by pressing into the bed until she's raised just above me. She runs her lips across my cheek until they find my closed eyelid, where she plants a soft kiss. She moves to the other eye and stays there for a heartbeat before repeating the kiss. Her nose grazes across mine, making just enough contact for it to feel like a feather on my skin. Then she returns back to her place against my cheek.

"I love you." she whispers softly.

"I love you, too."

The song runs it course, but soon repeats itself on the speakers while we drift back into sleep. The music becomes mere background noise as I start to focus on listening to Tali again. Our breathing and our heartbeats both become identical soon enough. Her chest rises and falls with mine and the soft thump of her heart echoes in my chest at the same time mine does. I feel the urge to kiss her again, but I can't break the moment for that. This one little frame in time is just... too perfect to be broken...

And then damn it, Tali's omni-tool beeps with a message. Her eyes slowly blink open again with the same irritation I have. She groans as she pulls her hand from my shoulder to her face.

"Ignore it." I say, pushing her hand away. "It can't be important."

"I turned off all of my notifications from anyone besides the Admirals or someone in the crew." she mutters unhappily. "The only reason it would alert me is if something important is happening."

"Damn." I grouchily surrender. She pulls her hand from mine and brings out her tool. Garrus' picture ID pops up, showing he's wanting a video call. "Let me see." I say.

Tali complies, opening the link, but pointing it towards me. "Garrus." I answer the moment his grinning face appears.

"Oh. Hello, Aaron..." Garrus says, losing the smile he had a moment ago. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Let me put it this way, Vakarian." I say coldly. "If this isn't damn important, the next life and death situation you'll face is if you can get to a relay before I reach my Black Widow."

"Understood, Commander." he surrenders when he regains his composure. "Can I speak to Tali for a second?"

Tali turns her arm back to face her. "What do you want, Garrus?"

Even from my view of barely seeing the screen, the surprise on Garrus' face is obvious. "Wow." he mutters. "Certainly not what I expected under the mask."

"Get on with it." she says grouchily. She's just as annoyed as I am.

"Everything's set up. Just tell me when."

Her face changes from pissed off to happy again in a second. "Finally. We'll be down there in twenty minutes." She kills the connection.

"Is there something I should know about?" I ask with a chuckle, wondering what made her mood change.

She slides her hand behind my ear and snakes around the back of my head. "We have a surprise for you." she giggles. It's not as seductive as usual, but her charm is more than apparent.

"Who is we, and what kind of surprise?" I ask. Involuntarily, a smile forms in the corner of my mouth. I take my hand and rub it down her arm.

"You'll see. But we both need to get dressed."

"Aww..." I fake a groan. "It's not that kind of surprise?"

"It's better. Will you please get ready? For me?"

"Only if you give me a little motivation."

She leans over and gives me another kiss that's deeper than ever. It's not like our kisses when we're about to make love, or those little kisses we always give each other. It's one of those where she's pouring her heart out through her lips. I moan myself, which almost never happens. I feel her body tense up a little in a giggle, but she doesn't stop kissing me for even a heartbeat.

After at least a minute long kiss, she pulls back. "How is that for a motivator?" she chuckles.

"It's more tempting to follow through with that kiss than it is to move." I joke, hugging her tightly. "But a deal's a deal. Do you want to take a shower first, or me?"

"I'll go first." she says, sitting up. "It takes a while for me to get the suit back on."

"And I get to be tortured by seeing you snake yourself into that thing." I joke.

"You'll live." she smiles as she goes into the bathroom.

For the next five minutes, I pick out a clean set of my usual jacket, t-shirt, jeans, and running shoes. I set them on the computer desk, along with a towel for Tali, seeing as she forgot to grab one before she went in. I grab another towel for myself and collect the various pieces of Tali's suit from the floor. They mostly landed in the same spot, but I still have to do a little hunting: somehow her mask ended up under the couch. I bring her the entire collection as she finishes drying off with the towel she saw on the desk.

"Thank you." she says before taking the suit from my hands.

"Anything for the soon-to-be Mrs. Shepard vas Rannoch." I chuckle, giving her a kiss.

"Mmm..." she moans a little. "I think I'll get used to that everyday."

"Or every hour, or every minute. All you have to do is ask."

"I know... I love you." she whispers.

"I love you too." I whisper back. I give her one more kiss on her forehead.

She gives me a hug before beginning the task of assembling her suit. I leave her to it while I shower and shave.

My shower takes a little longer with shaving, just under eight minutes. When I emerge dressed and ready, Tali's in the final stages of getting her suit on. I smile to myself as she checks all of the section seals and lays her hair into the back, the sapphire in the ring shining next to her raven black locks. I'm glad she likes it... I love her, and she deserves the best. She starts to pull her hood up when I reach her.

"I got it, baby girl." I say, taking the hood in my hands and pulling it up. The sides lock into place when they reach the top, and the dark purple fabric follows a second later.

"Thank you." she answers softly. "It almost doesn't feel right, putting the suit back on. I may have gotten used to your clothes."

"I won't complain about that: it's always been a secret hope of mine to have a girl who'd wear a pair of my sweats when she was in bed with me." I joke with a smile.

"I just wish I didn't have to wear this damn helmet everywhere." Her voice changes from happy and joking to almost solemn as she pulls the mask from a small pocket by her hip.

"Hey." I say, placing a finger under her chin to lift her face to mine. I look in her eyes, absorbing all of the emotion in the white irises. The love and happiness that's always there... mixed with just a bit of despair about that helmet... "That doesn't matter to me a damn bit. I love you, Tali, suit or no suit. Understand?"

She gives me a little smile and lays her hand on mine, the sorrow gone in a heartbeat. "I understand. Thank you, Aaron."

"Good. I can't stand to see you sad." I hug her and kiss her eyelid again. "And I promise, the moment we get back from your surprise, I will get you out of that suit."

"And I will hold you to that promise." she laughs, tightening the hug and kissing my lips. "How do you always know just what to say?"

"Making it up as I go. Just like all of our missions, dates, and last night."

"You certainly know how to improvise."

When I start to let her go, my hand brushes against something in one of the thousand pockets in her suit. Something hard, almost square. She swats my hand away immediately and lets out a laugh when I look at her with a fake hurt and confused face.

"You don't get to find your surprise just yet." she playfully giggles.

"All right, all right." I say, backing up and raising my hands defensively. "I guess I deserve to have a few secrets kept from me, since I didn't tell you about my proposal plan."

"It won't be a secret long." she laughs, giving me another quick kiss. "Can you help me with my helmet?"

"No problem."

I take the mask from her hand and raise it up to the rest of her helmet. It takes me just a second to get it in position and lock it into place. There's a barely audible hiss as it seals itself, becoming the only barrier between me and my baby girl. I toss the thought out in a heartbeat and wrap my hand around hers. "Would you care to escort me down?" I smile.

"I would be delighted." she giggles and holds my hand tighter.

Tali leads me to the elevator, stopping only to wait for the decontamination cycle through. She opens the console, and selects the crew deck as our destination. The elevator immediately moves and hums, making the decent in a few seconds.

The doors don't open immediately when we arrive. Tali takes the pause as a chance to turn to me. "Are you ready for your surprise?" she asks teasingly.

"Can I get a hint first?" I joke.

"No. I won't ruin it."

"Ok, then. Let me have it."

The doors fly open immediately, the sound of them opening silent over the sound of the entire crew screaming "SURPRISE!" I actually jump into the wall, scared bad enough to be glad I glad I used the bathroom before coming down. Everyone is laughing and clapping at my now-pale face of sudden terror.

Joker steps forward with a bright purple party hat on and a grin only he could have. "What do you think, Commander?" he asks raucously.

"What's all this?" I question, chuckling and noticing the streamers, confetti, balloons, and assorted party decorations on the walls.

"It's a party. What the hell's it look like?" he laughs.

"I got that, dumb ass. I mean, what for?"

"Well, the way we see it, we have three things we need to celebrate."

Garrus makes his way to the front of the crowd, wearing the same casual clothes he had last time, except with a party hat identical to Joker's. "First, we have to celebrate our dear Commander and friend finally getting out out of the hospital. Though I expect he has already done a little celebrating."

A light chuckle moves through the room as Zaeed steps up to the plate. "Then we gotta celebrate that god-damned bomb you dropped on us yesterday about you and your little Quarian."

Jack uses her biotics to launch herself over the crowd and into the front. "And all the Reapers we blew to fucking hell!"

That last one makes the whole room cheer with raised fists and yells. "Ok." I laugh. "I get it. We're finally celebrating everything we've pulled off the last six months."

"Come on." Joker says, grabbing my arm and pulling me out of the elevator. Tali clings onto my other hand as the mob moves around us to the mess hall.

Joker stops us just around the corner and waves to his left. Lining the entire wall on the hallway to Liara's cabin is, there's a giant food buffet of almost anything I could think of. BBQ, hamburgers, tacos, and cross-species delicacies overflow from the trays. The table in front of the kitchen is covered with different cakes and deserts, each looking better than the last. "The bar and fridge have all been stocked." the pilot laughs to comfort me.

"And as a tribute..."

He points to the table in the middle, and my jaw hits the ground. The entire surface of the table is covered with different brightly colored boxes and bags, almost to the point of hitting the ceiling. "Keelah..." Tali mutters, taking the words out of my mouth.

"Welcome to the party, Commander." Joker says.

When I finally remember how to speak, I look back at the pilot. "How... in the _hell_... did you do all of this?"

"We all chipped in." he smiles and points to the crew. "We put a little money together for the food and decorations. Miranda, EDI and I planned it. Garrus, Vega, Grunt and Wrex did all of the heavy lifting. Ashley and Liara put the decorations up. Zaeed, Cortez, and Samara made sure everyone had rides here. Gabby, Ken, and Traynor managed all of the tech crap, wiring all of the speakers so we can play music from our omni-tools and getting mics for karaoke. And everyone brought you a present."

I laugh and regain my composure. "So if you planned this, where are the strippers hiding?"

"I'm saving those for your bachelor party." he grins and pats me on the back. "What do you want to do first? Food, presents, or karaoke?"

My stomach growls in response, reminding me that even in the middle of the afternoon, I've yet to eat anything today. Tali had a different plan for breakfast... _not_ involving food. "Buffet. I'm starving."

"You heard him!" Jack screams. "Let's eat!"

The crew turns into a mad mob to be first in line. I have to grab Tali and pull her back from being run over as they thunder past us. Grunt and Wrex lead the charge while dragging poor Bakara behind them, with Vega, Jack, and Zaeed hot on their tail. The rest slowly fall in, except for Garrus, who decides to grab a beer before getting in line. Tali and I take a chair and examine the presents while waiting for the line to thin out.

The boxes are all different shapes and sizes, with some of the strangest wrapping paper I've ever seen. Two small blue ones catch my eye near the far corner. The wrapping paper looks almost like Garrus' clan markings, and his name scrawled on the side of the perfectly folded box confirms the sender. There's a large ruby red box to the right, Liara's name printed on it, with a very small box on top. The rest of the boxes and bags blur together as I look towards the middle, becoming nothing but a giant swirl of colors and patterns. I finally have to give up on trying to pick out anything individual and lean back against the table. Tali slides her arm behind the small of my back and leans against my shoulder. I just smile and lay my arm over her shoulder.

The line takes a while to work its way through, showing a lot of the non-crew and non-combatants that are here. Chakwas, Traynor, Gabby, and Ken are the most notable crew members, as well as most of the deckhands. Bakara and Brynn are here too, brought by their significant others. There's between thirty and forty people in the room and it feels like a real party. The music that's almost identical to what played in Flux helps too.

When there are only four people left, we file into the line. The food has different colored papers in front of each tray, serving as a warning for allergies and levo/dextro proteins. As it turns out, both Tali and I are lucky in that: we have almost no reaction to eating the wrong one. It still tastes like crap, and we get stomach cramps, but that's it. The little bit of backwash we get from kissing doesn't cause any negative side effects. Tali fills her plate with something resembling a oyster salad and a BBQ sandwich while I grab the first tacos I've had in almost a year. There's not nearly enough chairs in the room, so everyone finds seat on whatever ledge they can. The steps to the main battery become our seats as we grab drinks and eat our brunch.

The crowd slowly dissolves into small packs of three or four as we eat. The groups start wandering from one to another, finding friends and chatting loudly. Liara, Kasumi, and Traynor have become a trio and come over to say hi.

"Great party, eh, Shep?" Kasumi asks in her usual happy demeanor.

"I didn't know anything about it until I got off the elevator." I chuckle. "Everyone else deserves the credit. I'm assuming you had something do with this, Tali?"

"A little." she laughs modestly. "I came up with the idea for a party, and the rest took over from there. My job was to keep you distracted while they set up."

"Well, you are the greatest distraction of all time." I lean over and give her a kiss on top of the mask.

"Are you two going to need a room already?" Traynor jokes, raising a beer bottle to us.

"I imagine Tali already has a few details she may want to share later." Liara laughs. I think Tali and I blush simultaneously, because they bust up laughing a second later.

"I will not be in the same system for that girl talk." I say and suppress my blushing. "And no, I will not be having the same discussion with any of the male crew. I don't want to give Vega any ideas."

"He could probably use the help." Kasumi says. "He's been flirting with Liara all week. And he's failing horribly."

I tilt my head back and laugh. "That I have got to see."

"He may make another attempt today." Liara smiles with a slight embarrassment. "He has been looking at me all morning."

"Well, I wish him the best of luck." I joke.

"We'll leave you two alone." Kasumi says. "Make sure you open our presents. And I hope I get to talk to you, Tali."

"I will make time, Kasumi. Don't worry." Tali answers. The trio leaves a second later, with no one to replace the distraction. We set our heads down and focus on eating for the first time all day before the party really starts.


	15. Tributes to the Captain

When everyone was done eating, Garrus got his hands on a microphone and made his way to the middle of the mess. "If everyone could quit flirting and drinking for a minute..." he announces calmly over the speakers. The acoustics in the room are surprisingly good, almost concert quality. If we're having karaoke today, I have got to get in on this. "I believe it's time to move on to the presents."

The turian turns and faces us. "Since I knew our dear Commander would be upset if he was the only one receiving presents, we all made sure to get a present for both you and your fiancee. Each of you got a present, or a gift for you to share. Now come on up here."

Tali and I leave our plates in the sink and walk over to the table, taking a seat on the corner. Garrus gives me a sarcastic wink and points to his gifts I noticed earlier. "How about you start with mine?"

"Oh, you think you're gonna get special treatment, Vakarian?" I joke, making the crowd laugh.

"Well, after Ilos, the Collector base, Tuchanka, Rannoch, and Earth, I thought I may have earned a few points." he smiles. "Or are you still upset I'm the better shot?"

"Keep thinking that. I pick when and where we have a rematch." I shake my head and grab the boxes. They're both roughly the same size, the one with Tali's name slightly smaller while mine has more of a square shape. I hand over her box and nod for her to open it first.

At first she tries to carefully unwrap it, slowly unfolding the edges and preserving the paper. She makes the connection it isn't quite right when we all quietly laugh at her. She looks at me, shrugging her shoulders in confusion. "What am I doing wrong?"

"You're supposed to tear the wrapping off." I smile, demonstrating by ripping off one corner.

"Oh." she says before repeating the process on the other corner. When we cheer for her, she starts tearing faster until she reveals the prize underneath: a copy of Fleet and Flotilla.

I lean back and punch Garrus in the ribs. "Quit flirting with my fiancee." I play.

He doubles over in fake pain, backing up and moaning for dramatic effect. "Quit being a pussy!" Jack shouts from some corner.

Tali laughs and sets her hand on my shoulder. "It's ok, Aaron. Garrus and I watched this on the first Normandy. He wanted to give me something to remember him by."

"He didn't hurt me." the turian laughs, returning to standing up. "If one of his punches could hurt me, he would have killed me a long time ago."

"Don't tempt me." I say. The crowd all chuckle as I start tearing open my box.

After I get through the two layers of wrapping paper, a small cardboard box waits for me. I open the top and almost gasp and what's sitting there. On top of a small pillow is Garrus' old visor, the one he wore all the way until Palaven. The burn marks and engraved names are all on the side, but now with mine, Garrus', and Tali's names etched in with them. The shape is slightly different, like it was modified.

"I remembered you saying you wanted one." Garrus laughs. He sets a hand on my shoulder. "I had it fitted for you, and it's synced up to your omni-tool. I thought you would like this."

I stand up and immediately wrap him in a hug, laughing like a maniac. "Garrus, you son of a bitch!"

He gives me a pat on the back as the crew laughs at us. "You do realize that your mate is behind you, right?" he asks sarcastically.

"I know." I chuckle. "That's why I haven't kissed you."

The turian panics and pushes me back with a look of sheer terror on his face. "You will not."

"Oh, calm down. I wasn't going to. Thank you, Garrus. For the presents, and being a hell of a friend."

"You're welcome, Aaron." he smiles. "Now start working on the rest of the presents. You have a lot to go through."

Tali finally pulls me down, and together, we start working our way though the table. The next presents we get are from Vega and Cortez. Predictably, there's a few bottles of tequila and wine, for both Quarians and humans. Ash got us a set of poem books. Tennyson, Whitman, all of the classics, with a small note showing special works for us to read in particular. Jack gave us both of us envelopes with cards in them. "Get out of shit free." cards, with her number on the back and promising "one free save from any stupid shit we might have done." The only asterisk said that they cannot be cashed in for sexual favors and explosions have to be present.

The next bag is from Samara. There are a pair of asari bond robes, as they're explained. They're made of silk, almost like dresses, with bright blues and reds. Asari always give these as gifts to new bond mates, as a tradition and a symbol of the unity. Falere made them by hand back at the monastery. Traynor's gift is a large wooden chess board with real ivory pieces and a manual to teach Tali. Gabby and Ken, clinging to each other desperately as they hand us their present, give us a poker set as a reminder of our match that I cleaned them out in last year. Then they say they have "matters that needed attending to in Engineering" and took off with obvious intentions. I lean over and ask Tali if we're that bad. She just laughs.

When we get halfway through the table, there's a loud crash down below. I almost assume it's Gabby and Ken, but there's ominous loud growing with it. EDI steps forward and faces the krogan trio. "Wrex, your present has gotten lose in the shuttle bay. It appears to be attempting to eat the thrusters of the Kodiak."

"My shuttle!" Cortez screams in fear, making Vega laugh.

"Well, I knew he'd get free eventually." Wrex shrugs. "Grunt, help me get our gift. Shepard, go wait by the elevator for us to come up. He might try to eat somebody if he doesn't see you first."

The dinosaur grabs his smaller companion and runs to the elevator, Tali, half the crowd, and I following. The duo is arguing as they disappear and I look at Tali in fear.

"Any idea what they brought?"

She shrugs. "Knowing Wrex, it could be a baby thresher maw."

"Or some man eating plant from Tuchanka."

"That is a possibility."

The elevator beeps again as it arrives. Something large tackles me when the doors open, pinning me to the ground and blurring my vision instantly. Large paws keep my arms from moving and horrible breath makes it almost impossible to breathe. Trying to fight it off only rewards me with a deep growl. Scales rub across my cheek, then a wet, rough tongue. I stop moving when the growling changes from threatening to playful. When my vision finally comes back, the only thing I see is a large tan varren with blue eyes staring at me. "Urz!" I yell with a smile.

Wrex pulls him off me just long enough for me to stand up. Urz tries to tackle me again, but I stop him and keep him on the ground. He looks like he's smiling at me, wagging his tail and panting like a dog. I scratch his head and he rolls over on his back. Everyone laughs as the attack dog's leg shakes when I scratch his stomach. "What is he doing here?" Tali asks with a chuckle.

"Damn varren got onto Ratch's shuttle when he left Tuchanka for the assault on Earth." Wrex informs. "We found him a few days after Shepard made his way to Mars. Thought you'd like him."

"You can't be serious." Tali says, shaking her head. "We can't have a varren as a pet."

I stand up and look back at Tali, still smiling. "Why not? He's friendly, he'd make a great guard dog." Urz walks over to Tali and starts to lick her hand, remembering her from our trip to Tuchanka. "And he likes you."

Tali looks at him for a second and weighs her options. The varren looks almost loveable as he bends down and wags his tail. The crowd slowly edges her on with cheers for keeping him. Finally, she shakes her head and looks back at me. "Ok. But he is not staying in the loft until we move to Rannoch, and he is not living in the house."

There's a short cheer as I lead Urz over to the buffet table. I get a plate of taco meat and lay it on the ground for him. It only takes a few seconds for the varren to eat it all, including the glass plate itself. It takes two more of those to fill him up to the point he doesn't want anymore. He follows Tali and me back to our table to continue working on the stack of presents.

Karin, Joker, and EDI walks over to us just as we sit down again. "I believed you would enjoy something of sentimental value." the doc smiles, handing over a small present wrapped in Alliance colors.

I take the little box and unwrap it quickly while wondering what the rectangle is. When I get it open, there's a small picture frame sitting in my hand.

"All of us had a picture we wanted to give you." Joker says. "Karin had the first and I had the second."

I turn it on, and a picture of the SSV Normandy crew pops up. All of us are down in the cargo hold, lined up in a massive huddle in front of the Mako. The entire ship's crew is in the back: Presley, Adams, Doctor Chakwas, all the other engineers, Joker. The front row is the combat team. Liara and Kaidan are on the left, Kaidan's arm on her shoulder like he was making a move on her, a smile on both of their faces. Wrex, Garrus, and Tali are on the right as a little trio, Garrus getting punched in both shoulders by his friends. Ash and I are in the middle, when we were starting to be a thing. Ash has her arm on my shoulder and my hand's around her waist. I remember this picture. We took this during a dock on the Citadel, just after taking down the Thorian.

The frame changes to the next picture, and a similar sight is there. This time it's the crew from the SR-2. Gabby, Ken, Grubner, the rest of the non-combatants, all in the back like before. Joker and Chakwas are in the front with us this time, though. Zaeed and Grunt are back-to-back in the left corner, trying to look all big and bad. Kasumi's less-than-stealthily trying to sneak closer to Jacob, who's already got his hand on Miranda's shoulder. Thane and Samara have the right corner, not standing like old friends or anything, but together with smiles. Jack's in the process of giving Miranda her death glare while Mordin's trying to get in front of her, that weird little grin on his face. Legion's next to him, just standing with his arms at his side. Not like there's an expression to read. Tali, Garrus, and I are in the middle, smiling with arms on each others shoulders, except my arm around Tali is at her waist and her head's on me. That was just after we all got back from the base. One hell of a party five minutes after that.

The last picture makes my eyes go wide. It isn't one I knew anybody took, or even knew about for that matter. It shows Tali and I back in my loft. She's running her fingers over my hand like she always does and I have a smile on my face for the first time that entire war. This was when we got back from the dreadnaught, when I told her that I wanted her...

"How do you have this as a picture?" I ask, handing Tali the frame. She lets out a similar soft gasp when she sees it.

"That picture is my gift, Shepard." EDI says. "While I did not monitor and record all of the events aboard the Normandy, I kept an archive of particularly memorable moments. I thought you would like to have this."

"This is... amazing, guys. All of the pictures. Thank you." I stand back up and give a hug to all of them. I make sure to be gentle with Joker, who smiles and pats me on the back.

"Thank you." Tali says and repeats the hugs a second later.

We sit back down and the next present I grab is from Liara. The obscenely large box is for me, while the small one is for Tali. The sender steps forward when she sees me hand the little cube over to its owner.

"May I suggest Shepard open his present first?" Liara says softly.

"Only because you asked nicely." I joke and start tearing at the gift. As expected, there's a sealed box under the paper that I have to pry open with my hands.

Inside is a large wooden frame around a painting. It takes me a few seconds to realize it's of Therum, back when we rescued Liara. The picture is beautiful, using coal to scratch in the dark rock around the bright red paint of the lava. The sky is the same dark blue as when we were there, and the ruins are barely poking out on the horizon. "Wow..." I mutter under my breath.

"I sent one of my contacts to Therum to see if there was anything salvageable from the ruins." Liara explains. "She's a young salarian and a talented artist. She said she was inspired by the scene and made this. I asked her for it, and she gave it to me for free, as long as I promised it would go somewhere it would be appreciated. I thought you would be a fitting owner."

"A reminder of how we met, Doctor T'soni?" I ask with a chuckle.

"Hopefully we can forget about the krogan battlemaster that was also there." the good doctor laughs.

"Thank you, Liara." Tali says to join the conversation.

"Your present, Tali." I say and get everyone's head back out of that particular memory. She sets her head down and tears off the paper of her gift. Again, there's a small box under the wrapping, but this one is like one from a jewelry store. Tali opens it and gasps louder than I did for my present. "Keelah..."

I lean my head over to see the cause of the gasp: a large silver necklace with a massive sapphire gem in the front. It's a small silver chain that connects to the pendant from the top. The pendant is almost triangle, but with thin strands of the precious metal hanging from the bottom. The gem is a hair bigger than the sapphire on her ring.

"I.. admit that I was slightly wrong when I bought the necklace." Liara blushes. "The gem was originally a ruby. When I saw the ring was a sapphire, I knew they would clash and switched the stones at the store Shepard got his ring from."

"This is beautiful, Liara." Tali says, standing up and hugging the asari. "I can't thank you enough."

"It's my pleasure, Tali." Liara smiles and hugs back.

"Thank you, Liara." I say. I pat her on the back instead of crushing both of them in a hug, but she seems to appreciate it all the same.

Jacob works his way through the crowd with Brynn behind him and presents under his arm. He hands over a massive box with a smile as we sit down. "I couldn't get it to fit on the damn table." he chuckles.

I make quick work of the paper and get to the guitar case under it. My heart almost jumps out of my chest when I see a brand-new electric guitar inside. The finish on the wooden neck shines almost as well as the black body. There's already nickel strings strung through it, and a small N7 symbol on the bottom by the tone controls just begs to be played.

"Thought you could learn to play electric as well as you play acoustic." Jacob smiles and pats me on the back. "Maybe you could play at my kid's birthday parties."

"If he's playing for any parties, he's playing at my kids'!" Wrex shouts from the crowd.

"I am not playing for every one of your thousand kids' birthdays." I laugh. "I'd be stuck on Tuchanka everyday playing for the next one. But I'll make at least a few of them, Jacob."

"I appreciate it." he says. "I'm sure he'll love his uncle Shepard."

"Or she will." Brynn jokes from behind him. "We still don't know."

"And the surprise will make it more fun." I chuckle.

I turn back to Tali and she has her head down, playing with her fingers again like she does when she's nervous. "What's wrong, baby girl?" I ask.

She looks up and freezes. "I-i-it's nothing." she stutters. "It's... you'll see soon enough."

"It's ok." I say, laying my arm over her shoulder. "Just tell me what's wrong."

"It's nothing." she mutters a little louder. "I'll explain it to you later."

"Alright." I surrender. I lean over and give her a kiss on top of her head.

"Don't think I forgot about you." Jacob says. He steps forward to in front of her. "I have a few friends that can get some decorations for your house at cost. I made a list with their numbers, and they're expecting you call anytime you need it."

He opens his omni-tool and forwards the list to Tali, which light up for a brief second. She gives him a quick hug as a thanks.

"Thank you, Jacob." I say from my chair. "I'll see if I can get a little use out of your present tonight. Karaoke night has given me an idea."

"Don't let it go to waste, Shepard." he smiles before returning to the crowd.

Zaeed shows up next with one large and one small bag. "Figured I'd better give you yours before I pass out from the God-damned liquor." he laughs in his usual rough manner and hands me the small bag. "Try not to kill yourself with this one."

I open the bag, surprised by the heavy box inside it. Inside of that is a set of silver throwing knives. A full dozen of them, razor sharp with protective sheathes on them. I take one out, sheath still on, and gives it a toss in the air. The balance on them is amazing, perfect down to the gram. And the blade itself cuts through the wrapping paper of the earlier presents just from the paper's weight.

When I turn to thank him, he's leaning over and whispering in Tali's ear. He hands her the bag, which she promptly crams under the table and out of sight. They finally notice I'm watching and quit conspiring between themselves. "Don't forget that last part." the old man smiles to Tali.

She gives him a small nod. "I won't, Zaeed. And thank you."

"Is there something I should know about?" I ask sarcastically.

"None of your God-damned business." he fires back instantly.

Then he walks over to me with a handshake. When I accept it, he whispers "You've got a helluva surprise coming tonight." He leaves without another word and makes a beeline for the fridge.

I look back at Tali with a raised eyebrow. "What was that?"

She shrugs with a giggle. "You'll see."

"Is everyone keeping secrets from me?"

Kasumi follows the old mercenary, trademark grin on her face. "Enjoying all the gifts, Shep?"

I shrug a little. "I'm surprised. It was nice of everyone to make sure Tali got a gift too."

"Well, we had to make sure our cute little Quarian got some attention too." she laughs. She grabs the second to last present off the table and hands it to me. "I couldn't think of anything I could get each of you after the hospital, but I hope you like this."

She hands over a large frame, based on the shape under the paper. I give it to Tali and let her open it, which takes her only four seconds. However, she stops in her tracks when she sees what's under it: that painting Kasumi always had hanging in her room, the one from when Keiji and her met. "You can't be serious." Tali says in a muttered whisper.

The little thief just smiles and shrugs. "Why not? You always said you liked it."

"But this was Keiji's painting... the one that brought you two together..."

"And now it can bring you two closer together." Kasumi takes a step to Tali and lays a hand on her shoulder. "Keiji's gone, but Shep isn't. I want you to have it. So you'll always have something to remember me by, even way out on Rannoch."

Tali leaps from her chair into a tight hug around her old friend. I end up catching the painting barely and laying it on the table with the rest of the presents. "Thank you, Kasumi. I'll never forget you."

"You'd better not." Kasumi laughs. "Your adopted older sister will be furious if you do."

They laugh and hug for another minute before letting go. I follow behind with my own soft hug for the thief. "Thanks, Kasumi. For everything."

"It was fun, Shep. Every minute of it... except for the Collector base." she jokes, releasing me with a soft punch to the gut.

"You volunteered." I remind her.

Miranda follows behind the small thief, working a hundred miles an hour on her omni-tool as she walks up. She doesn't close it until she stops in front of us and resumes her usual working demeanor. "I have a present for you too also." she says. "It isn't one that I can give you, though. You have to see it."

"I'm all ears, Miranda." I shrug.

"Use your omni-tool and access your personal bank account."

I chuckle as I open my account and stat typing in my password. "You know, a card is typically how we give small cash gifts."

"Let's just say that it wouldn't fit in a card."

I finally get into my account, and the first thing I notice is there was a transfer yesterday. It wasn't long after the proposal. It's been accessed since, but those were checks on the deposit. And that was a grand total of...

"Holy shit!" I shout in reflex. "Where the hell did you get twenty five _million_ credits?"

Tali grabs my arm and looks at the screen as Miranda smiles. "A fair majority of it was actually yours, Shepard. When you died during the Collector attack, neither the Alliance nor the Council reclaimed the funds. After six months of inactivity, they were transferred to a safety deposit box in a volus bank. I convinced them to return them to your private account, along with the appropriate interest. That was about fourteen million.

"The other eleven million was from my father's accounts. He won't be needing it anymore. I've been sending almost all of it to the families of those taken from Sanctuary, as a way of trying to fix his mistakes. Oriana and I have kept a small piece for ourselves, but I thought you would need it more than us. And after all that you've done, this is the least you deserve."

"I... I don't know what to say." I laugh in shock. I've never made more than five figures a year. To have eight sitting in my bank account for nothing is beyond belief.

"You don't have to say anything. It was a pleasure, Shepard. Consider it a thank you for saving me and my sister. Twice."

I stand up to her. "I know you're not one for hugs. But I was hoping you could make an exception for today."

She gives me the slightest hint of a smile. "Only for you."

I give her a little bit of a hug, which she accepts with a combination of modesty and awkwardness. She probably not used to any kind of affection. Tali laughs from behind me at us, making Miranda tense up a little. I end her suffering and let go. "Thank you, Miranda."

"Make sure you buy Tali something nice with that." she jokes. "And leave her in charge of the interior design for your home. You'll ruin it if left in charge."

"Gee, thanks." I say. She laughs and walks back into the crowd.

All of the deckhands mob together and come to our spot on the table, Allers leading the charge. "We got you a present too, Commander." she says.

"What kind of present requires all of you to hide it?" I joke, seeing the crowd forming a wall between me and the middle.

"Oh, one that we think you'll like."

Everyone parts to four of the crewmen in the middle. Together, they're carrying a massive cake almost five feet long and three wide. Tali and I clear the table enough for them to set the giant desert down. I start dying laughing when I see what the decoration on the top is. Somehow, they've made a edible model of Harbinger, destroyed and in pieces on the icing. I'm standing on top of his corpse with my Black Widow in one hand and my other arm over Tali's shoulder. The rest of the crew is on the corner in similar molds, and a few of every race that fought with us behind the destruction. And obviously Garrus had a hand in its creation, because there's a yahg chasing Liara in the back.

"How did you do this?" I laugh as I examine the little cake and icing figurines.

"We didn't make it; we just planned and paid for it." Allers explains. "We hunted around for a few bakers with crafting skills. There were only a handful who could do it, but the one we found was more than happy to. The characters and terrain are a combination of icing and cake, the icing is butter-cream, the cake is chocolate-vanilla swirl. Only Garrus and Tali can't eat it, which is why we brought this."

Hawthorne appears with a far smaller cake, clearly only for the two dextros on the ship. However, it's still in the shape of the Normandy with the same blue and white paint job. The two dextros laugh at the special cake just for them.

"This is beyond belief." I chuckle, shaking my head.

"After having a Prothean on-board and killing a Reaper on foot?" Allers jokes. "You've earned it, Commander. Just make sure that next time, _I_ get the inside scoop for your press conference."

"I will." I turn my attention to the rest of the crowd. "What are you all waiting for? This cake isn't going to eat itself!"

Hawthorne grabs a stack of plates, knives, and forks and lays them by the cake as the line forms. I steal a piece of my model self first, then Allers and Adams start cutting and handing out slices. Tali sits down next to me with her slice so we can eat away from the main crowd.

"So when are you going to give me my present?" I ask her with a grin.

She pats my leg before answering. "Not yet. But if it's any consolation, it's presents, not a present."

I give her a smile and lay my arm over her shoulder. "That is a consolation. Only because I know my baby girl will make it worth the wait."

She just giggles and ducks her head down and starts working on her cake. I follow suit on my miniature me. I'll wait for everyone to get their cake before following through with phase one. I want to get some use out of that guitar tonight.


	16. The Party Continues

When everyone had their cake and were back in their cliques, I decided it was time to initiate my little plan. I fish the guitar out of the stack of gifts. As expected, it's horribly out of tune, making me spend another three minutes tuning it with a pick from the case. (All of the picks are black with an N7 on them, of course.) I make sure to drop the E-string to match the D, since the song I have in mind has that weird tuning.

"I'm gonna go make a complete idiot of myself for everyone else's enjoyment." I joke to Tali. "Sure you still want to be in the same room when they laugh me off the stage?"

She giggles and shakes her head. "You'll do fine. I should've figured you'd go up there."

"You know me too well."

I walk over to EDI and pat her shoulder to get her attention away from Joker. "Is there anyway I can get this guitar hooked up to the speakers in here?" I ask when she faces me.

The synthetic immediately nods. "Yes, Shepard. I can do it remotely using my omni-tool and the guitar's on-board computer. It is worth noting that the guitar has a microphone in the string heads, which I can also connect."

"Thanks. Can you do that for me, then lay it all together with a song?"

"I hacked a Collector ship. Editing your music is a far easier challenge." she smiles. "I only require the song."

"Here's the original." I send her a copy from my omni-tool. "I'll just be doing the vocals and the lead guitar. Cut those out, but play the drums and bass, please."

"Simple enough. You may begin playing anytime you wish."

I make my way up onto the stairs to the main battery when everyone finally takes notice of me. "Alright." I say, my voice already amplified by the guitar's mic. Damn, EDI works fast. "I thought that a good way for this party kick off was to have your dear commander do something stupid. How's that sound?"

The crowd cheers with raised drinks and a few "hell yeahs!" "Good. Maybe you won't laugh me off the stage when I get done." I joke.

"Growing up, my dad loved music just as much as I did. But according to him, all music production stopped around 2015, and even that's pushing it. If it didn't have a guitar in it, it wasn't music. Now he had this one song he listened to every time there was a any kind of celebration. All of our neighbors would make fun of him during our barbecues because he would have this same old song playing every time. I love the song, so I'm going to try to do it justice for dear old dad. Here's Foo Fighter's _Everlong_. Please save your booing until I finish."

I do a quick finger through of the rhythms and chords, silently praying I'm remembering them right. I played it a few hundred times with a holographic interface during my hospital stay, but it's different with real metal and wood in my hands. I give one quick sigh and start the intro.

The room's dead silent while I strum through the soft beginning. My foot keeps tapping the beat, actually loud enough to echo in my ear. When the second guitar's supposed to enter, EDI keeps her promise and immediately brings the rest of the audio in. I start smiling with the drums and extra sound giving me the back up. When the melody starts, I get a few cheers from the crowd and most of the heads in the room start to bob with the beat.

The vocals come next, so I pick my head up and try to give everyone a show. "Hello. I've waited here for you... everlong..." EDI's outdone herself and actually given the mic the same effects as the song recording. You can tell it's my voice, but it sounds like it's supposed to. "Tonight, I've thrown myself into... out of the red. Out of my head, she sang..."

I come in hard with the melody as the lyrics end and everyone cheers for me either out of pity or actual enjoyment. The heads are moving as one with the beat, coming down in a massive wave. I keep having fun and bounce a little on stage, creating a few more laughs.

"Come down and waste away with me... down with me. Slow down. You wanted it to be... And over my head, out of my head she sang..."

The chorus starts to come and I keep hitting the beats harder and harder. Vega is now doing an air guitar routine on the table, but the crowd ignores him. "And I wonder... When I sing along with you..."

I ignore all of the live recordings that have the chorus mellow and knock it out of the park. "If everything could ever feel this real forever? If anything could ever be this good again? The only thing I'll ever ask of you... you gotta promise not to stop when I say when. She sang."

There's a thunderous applause and cheer as I work to the next verse. I continue to make a fool out of myself by bouncing across the stage; They certainly seem to be enjoying it, though.

"Breathe out so I can breathe you in... hold you in... And now, I know you've always been. Out of my head. Out of my head, I sang..."

The chorus starts coming again and the cheers keep coming. "And I wonder... When I sing along with you..."

This time, when I hit the beat, there's a thunderous screaming like an actual concert that makes me smile. "If everything could ever feel this real forever? If anything could ever be this good again? The only thing I'll ever ask of you... you gotta promise not to stop when I say when. She sang."

The drop to the middle-eight catches everyone off-guard. I keep the beat going, but everyone just watches me while I play. "You guys having fun?!" I ask/yell.

Everyone immediately screams back at me, making me laugh. "Good! Humans have this thing we do: on the last chorus of every song we play, we get everyone to make as much possible noise they can. Think you can do that?"

The drum roll starts and I have to change the rhythm. As it keeps building and building, the cheers get louder and louder. For the last of the middle-eight, I yell one last time "Let me hear it!"

Their yelling almost drowns out me coming back in. "And I wonder..."

I slam the downbeat as hard as I can. "If everything could be this real forever? If anything could be this good again? The only thing I'll ever ask of you... you gotta promise not to stop when I say when..."

The ending notes aren't even audible over the whistles and cheers. When the song's over, I raise the guitar over my head and scream "Hell yes!" as loud as I can. I have to wait for it to quiet down again before leaving. "I'm done for a little while. Someone else get up here and be stupid." I laugh.

Zaeed fights his way up, stealing a mic from EDI. "Not like I'm gonna remember this shit in the morning." he grumbles with a beer in his other hand.

"Have fun." I chuckle. I punch him in the shoulder and get down into the crowd before he can return fire.

Tali's shaking her head as I set the guitar on the table and take my seat next to her. "Keelah, who did I agree to marry?" she laughs.

"A fun, overprotective guy with a really bad taste in music." I joke. As a retort, she takes a handful of cake icing from my cake and slams it onto my face. I fire back by smearing some on her mask, making her slug me in the stomach.

She starts to wipe her visor clean when I catch her hand. "I got it." I say. I take the edge of my shirt and wipe off as much of it as I can. Her mask shines clean again after a few wipes, and I can see her laughing behind the purple haze.

She wipes some of the cake off my forehead, and then leans her mask in the newly clean spot with a sigh. "I love you." she says softly.

"I love you, too." I smile and hug her.

It's not until the music starts playing that I let go of Tali. Part of it was so she could move around again, but another part was surprise at the song. Oh, I'd recognize those classic chords anywhere. As the drums start and Zaeed taps his foot to the beat, I laugh.

The old mercenary starts to sing a few beats later. "She was a fast machine, she kept her motor clean, she was the best damn woman that I'd ever seen. She had the sightless eyes telling me no lies, knocking me out with those American thighs. Taking more than her share had me fighting for air. She told me to come, but I was already there. Cause the walls started shaking, the Earth started quaking, and were making it and you. You shook me all night long..."

I start to die laughing as he keeps singing the AC/DC classic. And somehow, his accent matches it pretty well. He's slurring the lyrics and weaving around on stage like he's about to pass out, making me wonder how much he's had to drink already. Maybe Wrex challenged him to a contest. I could see those two doing something like that.

Tali elbows me in the ribs to get my attention. "Shouldn't we be worried about him?" she asks as he falls down the stairs and stands up again.

"Yeah, probably." I say. "Let's just keep him away from anything sharp and have Chakwas look him over."

"That could be a problem." She points to the fridge, where the good doctor is working what might be her fifth drink, based on how red her face is. Leaning on the wall is the only thing keeping her on her feet, and the glass of brandy in her hand is dangerously close to spilling. Then Zaeed comes over to her, grabs her by the waist in the middle of the song, and swings her down in a dip kiss. That lasts for about a second before they fall on top of each other. The crowd laughs loud enough for my ears to hurt as the couple try to stand up, repeatedly falling back into almost sexual positions each time. Jacob finally takes pity on them and gets them on their feet.

"I'm making a four drink limit for me tonight." I say to Tali. "If our doctor is passed out drunk, I don't want to tempt alcohol poisoning."

"I'm only having two." Tali says. "I am not having another hangover."

"Then next time, don't empty the bottle."

Ash got up on stage next, singing some asari party song that I didn't bother to try and understand. She was sober enough to stand up straight throughout her performance, but there was a hair of slur in her singing. Still, she wasn't bad. A couple of the crewmen, Allers leading them, got up there and sang something like All-American Reject's _Move Along_, but it was definitely an alien version. Traynor sang P!nk's _U + Ur Hand_, which obviously took a lot of alcohol to get her up there.

The crowd really was getting into it once Traynor was up there. Combined with the friends, the music, the total lack of inhibitions, and massive amount of alcohol, it was turning more into a riot than a party. Everyone was dancing with their friends or doing random stupid shit. Jack and Urz had somehow start crowd surfing. The freaking varren was being carried around above everyone's head, playfully growling and roaring the entire time. What the hell is wrong with us!?

Tali and I started moving through the crowd, joking and dancing with with our friends. Garrus joined us for our old trio and got us started on some games. Poker games, drink challenges, and arm wrestling competitions started forming on the almost empty desert table. I cleaned Garrus out in poker, he beat me in the drink speed, and Wrex came in late to better us all arm wrestling. Then the krogan challenged me to a headbutting competition, where he ended up on the ground with a bleeding head. Tali spent most of her time watching the stupid men from the safety of the women's group and cheering me on.

Vega comes over into our circle as Wrex picks himself off the floor. "What'd I miss?" he asks, noticing blood dripping from both of our heads.

"Wrex wanted to see who had more of a quad." I say and shake some of the cobwebs out of my head. Krogan heads are hard. "I won."

"You're just lucky I'm already drunk." Wrex warns, wiping the blood from his skull.

"You're not drunk. You were drunk in my hospital room when you couldn't even walk."

Garrus laughs from my right. "He tell any embarrassing secrets we can use to torture him?"

"You wish, pyjack." Wrex insults.

"Well, if you're done playing kids games..." Vega injects. "I've got one we need to try."

"We're all ears, Jimmy." I prod.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that, Loco." he laughs. "There's one we used to do on Fehl Prime. Let's see how fast you are. Hold your hand out. Palm up."

I do as he says, ignoring the bad gut feeling I have and offering my right. James reaches into the fridge, pulls out three bottles of beer and then grabs my hand. "You gonna propose now?" Wrex jokes.

"Keep dreaming." Vega chuckles. "Keep your hand stiff and flat."

I do as he says, then he sets a beer bottle on my hand. He balances another bottle on top of it, and then the third in a short, wobbling tower.

"You got it?" he asks.

"Yep." I assure.

"Good. Now catch 'em."

He knocks my hand up from under, launching the beers a good three feet in the air. My reflexes kick in and snatch the first bottle with my right before it starts to fall. I grab the second with my left as it comes down. Then, I toss both bottles into my left and catch the last bottle as it passes my shoulder.

I laugh and toss the beers back to him. "What was that?"

"We called it demolition." he explains in a chuckle while opening one for a sip. "Stack 'em higher and higher, and have someone knock 'em out of your hand. You have to drink one for each one dropped. Winner's the one who drops the least after ten rounds."

"Not a game to play at home." Garrus observes. "You'd spend the next three days cleaning up."

"That's why we always used the parking lots." James laughs. "Don't worry: these don't break. What'd ya say we go a few rounds, Loco? Let's see if you can catch like you can throw."

"Game on, Vega." I chuckle.

"Count me in." Garrus chimes in.

"Don't think you're doing this without me." Wrex joins.

Grunt plows his way into the group with a raised hand. "Or me."

"We're going to need more bottles..." Vega mutters, going over to the fridge and retrieving more alcohol.

The game took the about an hour and a half between the five of us. We ended up gathering a crowd to cheer and place bets. Drunken laughter and groans accompanied every bottle catch or crash. In the end, the krogan wound up at the bottom of the barrel with twelve drops apiece. Garrus made out well with four fumbles. I only missed one, knocking me behind Vega's perfect match. The specific moans of Jacob and Cortez cut through the crowd as they forfeited their wagers to their friends. Everyone begged for a rematch, particularly the ones who lost bets, but Vega cut them off. He pushed his way to EDI, and then to the stage.

He reaches the top of the stairs with every eye in the room on him. He looks nervous for the first time I've ever seen, and he keeps wiping his hands on his pants. He takes a hard swallow and lifts the mic to his mouth. "Alright." he says, his voice barely steady. "The Commander and even Sam got up here, so I thought it was my turn. And since I suck at flirting and making the shit up myself, I'm going to let someone else come up with the words. Maybe that'll come off better."

He throws a glance at Liara, who blushes and smiles. James points a finger to EDI, and the music starts to play. An electric and an acoustic guitar share the fast intro with a palpable Spanish theme and drum base to it. He taps his foot to the beat, finally starting to relax. In those brief seconds, I rack my brain to find the song, but come up blank.

Vega finally starts to sing. "Like a gift from the heavens, it was easy to tell. It was love form above that could save me from Hell. She had fire in her soul, it was easy to see how the Devil himself could be pulled out of me. There were drums in the air as she started to dance, every soul in the room keeping time with their hands."

He raises one hand above his head, slightly bouncing as he sings. "And we sang ay, oh ay, oh ay, oh ay. And the voices rang like the angels sing. We're singing ay, oh ay, oh ay, oh ay... And we danced on into the night."

The tank chooses to ignore the end of the chorus and looks to Liara. "Come on. Don't tell me you don't want to dance to this." he teases.

I can hear Liara's laugh from here, but she surrenders, gets up from her chair, and starts awkwardly dancing. "There we go!" he laughs.

He starts walking down the stairs to the newly grooving asari. "Like a piece of the puzzle that falls into place, you could tell how we felt from the look on our faces. We were spinning in circles, the moon in our eyes, no room left to move in between you and I."

Liara continues her said attempt at dancing as James reaches her. The rest of us decide to join in on the fun and begin our own flailing of limbs. "We forgot where we were and we lost track of time. And we sang to the wind as we danced through the night. And we sang ay, oh ay, oh ay, oh ay. And the voices rang like the angels sing. We're singing ay, oh ay, oh ay, oh ay... And we danced on into the night."

As the music plays through, Vega starts his interpretation of Spanish dancing with Liara. She's blushing like mad and laughing while he tries to flirt with her. But for the first time, I think he's succeeding. A very cool Spanish guitar solo plays over the speakers as he takes her hand for a few spins and dips. Meanwhile, the rest of us are laughing our asses off.

He pulls the best trick out of his hat yet when the lyrics arrive again. He swings her down into a slight dip and holds her there with the mic next to his mouth. "Like a gift from the heavens, it was easy to tell how a love from above could save me from Hell. She had fire in her soul, it was easy to see how the Devil himself could be pulled out of me. There were drums in the air as she started to dance, every soul in the room keeping time with her hands."

James keeps singing as he pulls Liara back up. She laughs even harder and starts dancing again. The two stay as a close couple while the song continues, quite the duo of music and movement. You'd think they were dating if you didn't know better... Of course, this whole escapade is an attempt to change that.

The song finally ends a short while later with them still acting like a couple of kids. James is laughing to the point he can't breathe while Liara blushes a bright red. When he regains his cool, he smiles and uses the mic again. "Thanks, amigos. That was _Into the Night_ from a very old, very good band called Santana. Now, for the whole reason I decided to be, well... loco."

He looks back over to Liara. "What'd ya say? You willing to give me a chance?"

She laughs one last time and takes a step towards him. "I guess we'll see what happens." she smiles. Then her hand grabs the back of his head and pulls his lips down to hers. The look of sheer surprise on his face is absolutely priceless. Our cheering reminds me of some college movie. She pulls back from the kiss a moment later and leads him over to the buffet table, where she immediately puts him to work piling food on a plate for her. He's hen-pecked already.

The regular techno resumes over the speakers as the crowd starts to act normally again. I shake my head and turn towards the elevator. "Where are you going?" Tali asks, grabbing my hand.

"I can't let Vega beat me at being romantic." I explain with a grin. "I've had an idea I've wanted to do, so I figured why not now? I just need to grab my old acoustic."

I try to walk away, but she tightens her grip. "Can I give you my presents first, at least? It might change a few things."

"Ok..." I say uncertainly. What does this girl have planned?

* * *

If it wasn't clear enough, Zaeed's song was AC/DC's _You Shook Me All Night Long_.


	17. Tali's Gifts

Tali grabs the last wrapped gift off the table, almost as big as her in dark purple paper not far from her suit. I asked her about it earlier, but she wouldn't give me any hints and insisted that I wait for her approval before opening. Then she checks the pocket I bumped against earlier, and leads me up to the stage.

When we get there, she opens her omni-tool and turns the music off so we can talk in normal voices. The crowd immediately takes notice, looking to us in confusion. She sits down on the edge of the stairs and pulls me down with her. I hear her clear her throat before she says anything.

"I was thinking yesterday..." she mutters a little. "... about how you act with me and everyone else. Everywhere we go, every chance you get, you tell everyone you can about how you love me. And I'm not embarrassed by it or anything, but I almost never show everyone that I love you. So I... thought that I should do that now."

She reaches into that pocket and pulls out a small, unwrapped jewelry box, hardly any bigger than the ring box was. She places it in my hand. "This is my first present."

I open it up to a slightly startling sight. It's a little faded silver necklace: a Keelish word carved out of metal and hanging from a fine, black fabric wire, almost like a Hawaiian necklace. But my Keelish isn't the greatest, so I can't read it.

"It's a zodiac sign, I think humans call it." Tali explains with more confidence. "Quarians have our own zodiac that we assign for someone's personality. It's a dog: strong, loving, and forever loyal to someone they care about. It's made from nickel and has a translator in it, so you don't have to wear your dog tags anymore. I thought you might like it."

I smile and hug her. "It's beautiful, Tali. Thank you."

"Can I help you put it on?" she asks sweetly.

"I thought you'd never ask."

I let go, and she takes the box from me. She pulls the bottom fabric out of the case to reveal the rest of the cord. Her fingers slowly work the knots to lengthen it enough to fit around my head. Then, she slides it over my ears and onto my neck. The only part I have to help her with is tightening it back so the charm hangs just below my collar bone.

I take off my tags and put them in my pocket. "Guess I won't be needing these anymore, huh?"

"I guess not." she laughs. She drags the large box over to my lap. "Here's the second present."

I make quick work of her beautiful wrapping paper, feeling slightly guilty for ruining something she obviously spent a lot of time on. The box underneath makes me more curious, but the guitar case inside that explains a lot.

"So that's why you were upset when you saw Jacob give me that guitar."

"Mine's different, but yes... I was afraid you wouldn't like this one as much."

I give her a small kiss on top of her helmet. "I promise, Tali: I'll love it."

I lift the case out of the box and open it up to see the guitar. Now that actually leaves my jaw dropped like a moron. At first glance, it looks like any old acoustic guitar: a light tan body with a dark brown pickguard and neck in stark contrast to the shining silver strings. But when I see the model number on the bottom, my heart stops.

"Tali... do you realize what this is?" I ask, still staring at the guitar.

"A model 810CE Taylor Acoustic Guitar like the one used by the lead guitarist of 3 Doors Down, Chris Henderson?" she asks quickly. My eyes move to her in shock, mouth still open. "Your guitar looked a little damaged, so I wanted to give you a new one as a present. I remembered how much you loved that band and that guitarist, found out what kind of guitar he played, and searched for it. I found this in a small antique shop catalog; they restored it and shipped it here. And yes, it's already been tuned."

I pull the guitar from the case and hold it in my hands. The strings ring true with a few easy notes, proving it really is tuned perfectly. I give it a few more strums with one of my picks to get used to the feel of it, but the shock never quite wears off. I lay it on my lap and turn back to Tali.

"I can't thank you enough, baby girl." I say while wrapping her in a tight hug. "This is the best gift anyone's ever given me."

"You haven't seen the last one yet." she teases with a giggle.

I let go of her enough to press my forehead to her mask. "And what gift would that be? An early exit from the party?"

"Not quite." she laughs.

Her hand moves from the bottom of my back to another one of her pockets. She pulls out a small, empty syringe. It takes me a second to recognize it.

"You took antibiotics?"

She gives just the slightest nod and pulls her head back. "I want to prove to everyone right now... that I love you... with all of my heart..."

She reaches up to the bottom of her helmet. There's a tiny hiss, and the mask falls into her hand without a sound. Her pleasant, loving smile is there in all its glory as she stows her visor in a pocket. Then, she brushes her hood and the rest of her helmet back, revealing her long, raven black hair.

"Well..." she smiles softly. "This is my third present."

One of her hands goes through my hair as she kisses me. The crowd cheers a little when I surrender to her influence. I pull her tighter into my chest while sliding the guitar to the side. She crawls her way into my lap without breaking the contact for a second. When she's comfortable, I take my hand lowest on her back and use it to rub her cheek and ear.

We hold the kiss for a solid minute as the rest continue to stare at us. I don't think they're quite sure what to think of this. I finally break the contact, but lean my forehead to hers. "I think it's time I showed you what my plan was." I whisper with a grin.

"What could the dashing Commander Shepard possibly plan to do for his fiancee while he's holding her and a new guitar?" she jokes in her usual sarcasm.

"Oh, I think I have a new twist for you on this one. Where's the switch for your translator?"

She points to another small button on her collar bone, one that I've somehow never hit by accident. I give it a press, and a small beep answers me. I turn mine off and pray I'm not screwing this up royally.

"Can you understand me, baby girl?" I ask in Keelish.

The combination of shock and a smile form on her face. "... You learned Keelish?" she whispers.

"Only little." I say slowly. "Korris found me teacher. She taught me some basic words and phrases, then what I needed."

"Needed for what?"

"To sing you a love song that doesn't need a translator."

I pick up the guitar again and lay it outside of her body. I get it set right so the neck comes out just past her shoulder and the body by her hip. She moves her arms around my ribs so I have free movement of mine. I dig my pick out one last time and strum a few notes for one last double check.

"This is good song, but I didn't realize how good until I fell in love with you." I whisper in my crappy Keelish again. "It's called _All I Want_."

I immediately start to strum the old chords, feeling the beat without moving my head or feet in fear of unseating her. She finds the rhythm and starts rocking my body with hers. I close my eyes and keep strumming.

"What I leave, and when you go." I sing in in a slightly off rhythm. The syllables between the languages don't quite match up, but they're close enough for me to keep. "What I see and what you show. And what I guess, and when I don't is something you already, already know..."

Somehow, I make the vocal jump and the downbeat perfectly. "I can't live without, all I think about, all I want is you. You're all I dream about, I can't live without. All I want is you..."

She tightens her hug as I end the first chorus. I look up into her perfect face with a smile. She smiles back, making me melt. I keep my eyes in hers as I keep singing. "The things I do, what I go through, and all I say when I'm awake. What I make, the crap I take is something you already, already know..."

"I can't live without, all I think about. All I want is you. You're all I dream about, I can't live without. All I want is you..."

I work through the short bridge, making Tali swing us more and more with the beat. When the drop-eight comes, she's smiling like she's having the time of her life. I switch singing the next section in favor of a half-whisper. "You're all I dream about, I can't live without. All I want is you..."

The next chorus is a nice, solid downbeat that has Tali laughing. "I can't live without, all I think about. All I want is you... You're all I dream about, I can't live without. All I want is you..."

I go back to my strange singing whisper that drives her wild, still strumming as well as I can. "You're all I dream about... I just can't live without. And all I think about is you. And all I want is you."

The song finally ends with a silence over the entire room. Tali and I are still looking in each others eyes, quietly smiling as the crowd stares at us. I reach over and turn our translators back on.

"What do you think, baby girl?" I ask in English.

She takes the guitar from my hand and sets it on the ground behind her. Her grin looks like it'll jump off her face if it grows any bigger. Then she pulls my head to hers as she starts kissing me. I hear the assorted chuckles and slight cheering from the peanut gallery, but I ignore it. Her kiss makes me moan for the second time today. It doesn't cause her to giggle like it did earlier. That doesn't mean I can't feel her perk up a bit at my moment of weakness.

After a few moments, she pulls her head back, not letting go of me. "I have a question for you." she asks with her forehead on mine.

"What is it?"

"When humans get married, you pick a song that represents you as a couple. You dance to the song at your wedding. Am I right?"

"Yes. Why?"

"I was wondering if we could each pick a song and do that now. I choose a song from the flotilla, you choose a song from Earth, and we dance a little."

I smile a bit and kiss her again. "Do you have a song in mind?"

She nods just barely. "Do you have one?"

"One I've thought of for over a year now... And while I've got the chance, I'll try to teach you a bit about how humans dance."

"Is it hard?"

"Relax, baby girl. It's nothing. Can I play my song first? So I can show you?"

"Only if you carry me back down." Her grin appears again, making my heart melt a third time today.

I slide one arm under the crook of her knees while the other goes under her shoulder. I slowly stand up, carrying her in front of me and earning a few comments from the crowd. "Nice move, Romeo!", "Can you two wait until you get a room?", and an extremely loud wolf whistle are my three favorites.

When I get downstairs, I set her down on her feet gently. I stand back up with my omni-tool glowing. "This is just so you can learn first." I say. A moment later, a combination of a soft drum beat, saxophone, and guitar plays over the speakers, the intro to _I'll Be_ by Edwin McCain.

"May I have this dance, Miss vas Rannoch?" I ask, holding my hand out with a slight bow.

She immediately lays her hand in mine, followed by the sound of "You may, Mr. Shepard."

When I return to standing straight up, the lyrics have started and are making me feel more romantic, if that was even possible. I slowly guide her hands to each of my hips. The ring on her finger makes me pause for just a moment, reminding me that this is just the beginning of the rest of our lives together... But I toss the thought away to focus on the here and now. I step in until only a few inches separate us. I keep my toes almost touching hers.

"Now just listen to the beat and follow my lead." I set my hands on her hips and slowly step side to side, feet coming together every two beats. Only a little shuffle, to get her used to the idea.

At first, she watches my feet nervously, trying to figure out the pattern. But by the first chorus, she can keep her feet moving at the same pace. "You're doing great." I whisper. "Just keep your feet with mine."

She slowly adjusts, becoming more and more comfortable. When the last chorus comes, she stops watching her feet and moves her eyes to mine. Her smile makes mine form, causing her to giggle a bit. I grin and lean my forehead to hers.

When the song ends, it immediately changes to a simple piano melody for an intro.

"This is the song." I breathe. "This is the song that sums up perfectly how I love you."

The bass of _Places I've Been_ appears. She smiles a little more, leaning harder against my forehead with the same beautiful smile. She finds the pulse in a moment, moving her feet with mine. I feel her toes barely touching mine through the shoes. Her hands stay perfectly in place and she keeps the distance between us to a bare minimum.

I softly sing along as the chorus hits. "All the places I've been meant nothing. They were nowhere, cause you were not there..." My singing makes her close her eyes, giving a soft, content sigh in the process. "Everything I've been through, everything before you, was just time moving on with no meaning. You're what was missing..."

She catches me off guard at the end of the next verse. She moves her hands from my waist to around my back into a hug and presses her entire body against me. Somehow, she manages to do all of that without losing the beat in the slightest. I hug her back and give her a small kiss while still trying to dance with her.

I finally notice how quiet the room got. I look out of the corner of my eye and see the party has come to an almost complete stop. Everyone in the room is watching us, leaning on tables and walls to stay out of our way. Garrus locks eyes with me, a smirk apparent. He gives an approving nod. I try to return it, but stop in fear of moving Tali's head. Then it dawns on me that everyone else has the same look on their faces. Chakwas, Joker, Vega, even Wrex and Grunt: the same look of approval and happiness. I feel like I want to say something, but... I close my eyes and focus on feeling Tali's heartbeat in my chest.

When the song ends, we open our eyes at the same time and stare back into each other's. "It's my turn." she mutters softly with a soft smile.

A second later, a new song appears over the speakers. I hear something close to a violin with a deeper voice echoing inside it. There's a beat like the bass of the last song, but it sounds like a thin tap of metal on metal. Maybe some kind of guitar mixing them together. It's weird and different... but somehow really relaxing. We find the pulse again and repeat our dance to the wordless music, a hair slower and still pressed against each other.

After a minute, a quiet voice joins the instruments on the speakers. It's almost inaudible with the rest of the music, but I can pick it out. I have to focus on the sound to hear it. But my translator isn't picking it up at all. The words are still in Keelish, I think.

"What's wrong?" she asks. I guess she felt me tense up a bit.

"My translator's not working. I can't understand the words."

"Oh..." she mutters. "It's an older form of Keelish, one that most of us haven't spoken since the geth. Most translators don't have the program for it."

"Does yours?"

"Yes. I understand it perfectly."

"Do you think you can translate it? Just whisper it back to me?"

I melt at the knees and almost lose the beat when I see her smile, the same smile she had when I told her why I love her. "I can do that." she whispers.

Her hand rubs slowly down my back, her body leaning harder into me. She starts to sing like I did, just loud enough to keep the pitch, but soft enough to make her voice sound more beautiful than the singer's. "The first time I saw you, you were a man by me. The second time I saw you, you were in my dreams. And now, every time that I see you, I know you are real, but you seem like a dream. Each day, I wonder, what did I do to deserve you in my life?

"I have fallen in love with you, as you say you have fallen with me. All that I wish is to spend the rest of my days with you in my arms, you holding me close and telling me that you will not leave. Whether we wander through stars, drift through the dust, or sleep in our bed, I will never leave your side. With all that we have been through, and all that will come, knowing that you here are with me means it is all... perfect."

The song continues for almost ten minutes before coming to an end with a quiet decent, which is far more fitting than the thunderous climax I was expecting. Instead of coming to a stop, we both keep moving back and forth to the beat that no longer exists. Her heartbeat becomes my metronome and the only thing I focus on as I lean more and more on her.

We both stop moving at the same time. We don't let go of each other and still keep our eyes staring into the other's. "I love you, Aaron." she whispers softly.

"I love you too, Tali." I whisper back. I start to twist my head to kiss her, but she moves faster than I do and catches me. Her pressure is soft and strong, her love is overpowering, and she tastes better than anything I've ever eaten. We both moan just loud enough to rumble in our chests. I rub my thumb gently into her shoulder blade as she runs her fingers across the top of my shoulder. We lose ourselves in the moment, forgetting about everyone else and the time of the day...

Joker's the one to end the moment. "All right, that was sweet and beautiful, and all that mushy shit. But I thought this was a party!" he yells, making us end our embrace. Tali lets go, but tucks herself under my arm as everyone cheers for Joker.

"If the Commander can get up there and make a fucking idiot of himself, so can I!" Jack shouts, pushing her way though the crowd up to the makeshift stage. "EDI! _Hell Yeah_! Rev Theory! Human rock band!"

Samara saves my guitar and case from certain destruction by pulling them from the stage to the gift table before Jack can reach them. Grunt tosses her a mic when a blistering guitar solo starts. I start laughing, recognizing the song, as I lead Tali back over to the lounge for a drink. The door opens for us automatically, and we sit down on the bar stools. Tali reaches for a bottle of wine and a glass while I snag a beer.

The amplified guitar and Jack's voice rattle the glasses on the table, making Tali giggle. "Do you have any idea how much I love that laugh?" I say between gulps.

"I'm guessing almost as much as you love being romantic?" she snaps back with her trademark sarcasm.

"I can't change how I act when I'm with the most beautiful woman in the galaxy." I chuckle.

"Thank you... You really should go back out there with Garrus."

"What makes you say that?"

She reaches over and lays her hand on my lap. "As much as I love you, Aaron, I need to share you with your friends. And we all know Garrus is your favorite."

"He grew on me."

She giggles again, rubbing the top of my leg. "You are going to be mine for the rest of your life, and you definitely are not leaving that cabin for anything besides food for the next week. Garrus deserves to get you for the rest of the day."

"You're right..." I grab her hand and rub my thumb against it. "As soon as we finish our drinks, I'll go see him. What are you going to do?"

"I did talk to other people on the ship besides you. I'm sure Kasumi's dying to see me."

"Just making sure you wouldn't be alone, baby girl."

I grab the bottle and finish it off; there were only a few swallows left anyway. Tali finishes her glass with a sip, looking far more refined than I do. I get up and give her a quick kiss on her eye. "Love you."

"Love you too." she says as I walk out the door.

Every ounce of my head tells me something bad is about to happen when I see Garrus, Wrex, and Grunt all walking up the steps for the stage. Each of them have a mic, and that grin they share between them just screams bad news. I walk around the back to the med bay entrance so I can get a perfect view of the stage. The trio are doing some quick plotting when Vega walks over to me.

"What's up, Loco?" he grins and punches my shoulder. "Get any use out of my present yet?"

"I'll save it for later." I surrender with a chuckle. "I want to be sober when I try it, so I can see how bad your taste in liquor is. You're enjoying the party?"

"Hell of a show seeing Jack on stage. Almost as good as the one you put on."

"I try." The stage trio moving around catches my attention, finally getting ready to do whatever they're gonna do. Garrus stands just in front of Wrex and Grunt, mics in everyone's hands. Garrus' omni-tool glows to life, and the speakers start to rattle again with some kind of electric piano intro.

I put the connection of where I've heard it just before the bass hits. Wrex puts the mic to his mouth, half-singing in his thunderous voice "Your left, your left, your left, right, left." Grunt stays in the back, boobing his head to the beat. Garrus' voice becomes apparent as he speaks the intro to Eminem's '_Til I Collapse._

"Sometimes, you just feel tired." Garrus raps, surprisingly well. He keeps his eyes closed and one hand on the mic, right next to his mouth. "You feel weak. And when you feel weak, you feel like you wanna just give up. But you gotta search within you. Gotta find that inner strength and just pull that shit out of you. And get that motivation, to not give up and not be a quitter, no matter how bad you just wanna fall flat on your face."

The song truly begins in the next beat, and Garrus raps just as well as Eminem himself. He goes from eyes closed and partially relaxed to eyes wide open and pouring his heart into the music. I feel the overwhelming urge to laugh like hell, but at the same time, I want to just keep watching. The song fits him. That being said, a rapping Turian is not something I ever expected to see in my lifetime. And especially not Garrus. Vega starts bobbing his head to the beat himself, enjoying it. I return my attention to the show on stage.

"The criminal cop killin' hip hop fillin' minimal swap to cop millions of Pac listeners: you're coming with me, feel it or not, you're gonna fear it like I showed you the spirit of God lives in us. You hear it a lot, lyrics that shock. Is it a miracle or am I just a product of pop fizzin' up? For sizzle, my whizzle, this is the plot. Listen up, you bizzles forgot this slizzle does not give a fuck!"

Wrex and Grunt make their uses apparent when the chorus hits, covering the bass voices in the background. "'Til the roof comes off, 'til the lights go out, 'til my legs give out, can't shut my mouth. 'Til the smoke clears out, and my eyes burn out, I'm a rip this shit 'til my bones collapse." They have to have been planning this, because they are too damn good for this. All three of their voices match well enough for a professional recording. Everyone on stage and on the ground is enjoying themselves, laughing and moving with the beat.

I see Tali come out of the lounge halfway through and sit at the mess tables next to Kasumi and Samantha, the trio chattering amongst themselves. She smiles at Garrus and his new posse up on stage. I'm pretty sure he sneaked a grin to my fiancee.

The song finally comes to an end and the room rattles with cheers and applause. The group take some bows for entertainment, which cause some more clapping. "All right, all right." Garrus shouts into the mic, getting the noise down to a dull roar. "Now, Shepard? Do you feel up for a friendly competition?"

"What do you want, Vakarian?" I shout back.

"I want to see if you can beat me up here. If you rap like you shoot, I think I'll be safe."

"Oooh!" the crowd jeers. "You're getting called out, Skipper!" a very drunken Ashley shouts. "Don't take that shit!"

"You're on, Garrus!" I yell, pushing through the crowd to get to the stage. "Your ass is mine!"

"Those are brave words. Think you can back them up?" he chuckles. He gives me the mic as I climb the stairs.

"You're going to be backing up like a krogan toilet here in a second." I prod, causing more jeers from the peanut gallery.

"Are you guys ready to see your old Commander beat the galaxy's mouthiest Turian?" I shout. A deafening roar of cheers and clapping answers. "Well, then..."

I start the song with my tool. "Throw up your rawkfist if you're feeling it when I drop this!"

* * *

If the spelling didn't make it obvious, the last song in _Rawkfist_ by Thousand Foot Krutch.

_Places I've Been _is by Taylor Hicks.

_I'll Be _ is by Edwin McCain.

_All I Want_ is by Staind.


	18. Special Treatment

Four hours later, the party was finally over. The food was gone, most of the drinks were empty or spilled on the floor, and the energy gone from the room. Some were retreating back to their old rooms for some sleep, while others were simply crashing wherever. Samara, since her room had been taken by Ashley, was sleeping in a chair by the table. Cortez collapsed in a little corner with an empty bottle of tequila in his hand. Grunt had hilariously passed out on the buffet table, with his head in the middle of the BBQ pork, his lower half sprawled out across the ground, and Urz asleep underneath him. It looks like the two of them found some of the hard ryncol. Do not want to be around for that hangover.

The couples of the party each had their own, very different, endings. Gabby and Ken never returned from Engineering, and I have no intention of going down there to check on them. Liara and James retreated into her cabin for the night, but stayed strangely quiet. EDI confirmed that both are still in there, asleep in the bed with clothes on and in each others arms. And then poor Zaeed... he pissed off Chakwas something horrible, because his cheek still has her hand print. I don't know what he said or did, but he's asleep on the couch in the lounge and the doc locked herself in the med bay.

With only Joker, EDI, and I still awake and in the room, we started to do some light cleaning up. Joker and I collected any trash laying around, handing it to EDI so she could get it into a plastic bag. EDI would then run the bag down to the old garbage compactor. My mind, however, spent most of its time away from the task at hand. I kept zoning out, going on complete autopilot to gather the garbage while my head kept drifting to Tali... About twenty minutes ago, she said she was heading up to the cabin, and that she would message me when to come up. I could tell she was planning something, but I didn't pry.

When I get through with half of the room, my omni-tool beeps with a text message. It's from Tali, simply saying "Please come up now. Don't bring anyone else with you."

I must have smiled or something, because Joker appears behind me a second later. "Something from Miss vas Normandy?" he asks in a particularly suggestive tone.

"It will soon be Mrs. Shepard vas Rannoch." I chuckle. "Just a message she has a surprise for me." Meanwhile, my mind's now racing to figure out what it might be. What could be so special that it would take her twenty minutes to set up...

"So now you're leaving us to clean up the mess?" he jokes before patting me on the back. "Go ahead. Don't keep her waiting."

I surrender and walk back to the elevator. The exhaustion finally hits me as I select the cabin level from the interface. My legs are ready to give out from under me, and leaning against the cold metal of the wall almost makes me fall asleep. I rub my face once to wake myself up, barely working. The elevator arrives at the loft, opening with a soft beep and hiss. I step into the decontamination chamber, where the doors immediately close and begin their cleansing protocol.

I knock on the door to the cabin. "I was requested?" I tease.

"You certainly didn't waste anytime getting up here." she giggles from behind the door. It sounds like she's close to the door but not completely against it. "When the decontamination is done, close your eyes, and stand in front of the door."

"As you wish." I chuckle a little. I try to think again of what she might be preparing, but I still come up blank. I guess I'll find out soon enough...

A beep tells me I'm free, so I knock the door again. "My eyes are closed, and I'm ready."

I close my eyes and cover them just before the door opens with a soft hiss. "Ok..." she says, with some uncertainty in her voice. She's nervous about something. I think. I hear her take a few steps back from by the door, but there's something off about the sound. It's not the noise her feet make when she's barefoot or wearing her suit. It's like she's wearing shoes or something. And there's also some song playing... _Still._ She sighs once, like she's trying to work up the nerve for whatever her surprise is. "Open your eyes."

When I pull my hand from my face, there are no words to describe my shock. My jaw makes physical contact with the floor, my eyes jump clean out of their sockets, my knees melt from under me, and the top of my head explodes into a cloud of steam and smoke.

"Wow..." is the only thing I manage to whisper out.

Tali is standing just in front of the stairs, wearing the most beautiful dress I have ever seen: a strapless black ballroom dress that seems like it was made specifically for her. The fabric looks like silk, but it shines in the light from the tanks with this aura around her like a true angel. It doesn't have a deep "v" cut in the middle, but it still shows where the silver lines under her collarbone stop and enough skin to make any man look twice. The dress wraps itself tightly around every possible curve that she has, which only accents her beautiful body. The black color itself matches her hair perfectly, making it hard to tell where the dress ends and the hair begins while making her skin glow. The sound I heard turns out to be a pair of shoes that look like flats for human feet, but they seem like high heels for the beautiful Quarian standing in front of me. The necklace Liara gave her is around her neck, the deep blue shining brightly against the tanks and her skin. It matches perfectly with the dress and her ring... that little dab of sapphire on her finger... telling me that's she really mine...

She giggles a little, taking a step towards me and revealing the long slit down one side of the sides. Her legs become mesmerizing as she does a little spin in the middle of the floor, making the dress fan out and swirl around her. She lets out another nervous giggle as she reaches me.

"Do you like it?" she smiles, batting some loose hair from her face.

I reach out and touch her sides, making sure I'm not dreaming and that this is real. The silk is soft to the touch, warm from her skin beneath it. "Where did you get this?" I mutter, still in disbelief.

"It was Zaeed's present for me." she says as she takes my hands from her side and into her grip. "He said he had an old girlfriend who was a Quarian and introduced him to a tailor who made dresses for us to wear without their suits. He thought it would be nice for me to surprise you with.

"You still haven't answered my question. Do you like it?"

I slide my hand across her arm until it finds her shoulder. "You... have always been the most beautiful woman I have ever seen..." I say in quiet shock. "But this is just... amazing."

She moves my hand from her shoulder to against her cheek. "Do you remember during the press conference, how you said that I was the first person to make you want to stop fighting?" she whispers softly, looking into my eyes. "Every time I think of you, I feel... something similar..."

She takes my hand and slowly leads me across the room. Watching gracefully her move down the steps keeps me in a blissful trance.

"I've spent my entire life giving up everything for the fleet." she continues with the same beautifully hushed tone. "It was expected of me, and it became a part of me. I've carried that into everything I've done. Every ship that I've served on, every job that I've worked, everything that I've had to do in my life, I put all of it ahead of my own wants."

She finally stops at the foot of the bed, still keeping me half an arm's length from her so I can look over her dress more. Then she steps into me to close the distance while placing both of her hands on either side of my face. Her eyes close and her forehead leans into mine.

"Aaron... Being with you is the first thing I've done truly for myself. I know that you had to push me into it, that I was nervous at first, but..." She takes a deep breath like she's still not sure what to say. "You are the only thing in my life that I can't share with the galaxy. You are the only one that I want for myself."

She opens her eyes and looks into mine. There's a longing in them... this deep desire and love. I could stare into them for hours and still never get to the bottom.

"You make me feel like I am worth something. The fleet values me as an asset, and the rest of the crew may value me as a friend... But you make me feel like more than that. You make me feel like a real person... Like I am worth more than my work... You make me feel wanted."

She smiles softly, her nerves finally relaxing. I move both of my hands to her face, using one to brush a stray bit of hair away. Her smile widens as one of my own forms.

"I will do everything I can..." I whisper. "To make you feel wanted and loved... Like you truly deserve... And I will always be yours... and yours alone."

She doesn't giggle at me, but her smile expands just a hair.

"I love you." I barely breathe.

"I love you." she mouths back.

I turn my head and start kissing her, trying to tell her the same words without saying them. Her arms go behind my head and pull it close to her. Her caution gives way to passion as she kisses me harder and harder.

In the next heartbeat, she has me lying on my back across the bed, her body pressed against me while she continues drowning me in her kiss.

* * *

Around six o'clock in the morning, I finally wake up again. A mild hangover and a case of cotton mouth are the first things I notice, but they're nothing that bother me. I look around and see Tali still asleep, just a few inches from me. She looks more tired from exhaustion than alcohol.

I roll out of bed, careful not to wake her up. I stumble over to the bathroom and use the toilet, and then the sink, letting me wake up some. A handful of painkillers and a few gulps of water from the faucet take care of both of my ailments inside of a few moments before heading back out.

My first priority coming out is to check on Tali, who's still sound asleep next to my imprint in the bed. I sit down on the edge and watch her for a few moments. Just like she always does, looking at her face just... gives me this amazing peace... Just this unbelievable feeling like everything in the galaxy is perfect. What did I do to deserve this girl in my life? In my bed, in my heart?... The most beautiful, kindest, smartest woman in the galaxy?

I reach over and brush a bit of hair from her face again. Her skin twitches from the contact, but she doesn't wake up. When the hair's out of the way, I give her a kiss on her eye. She still doesn't move from her slumber, but she does let out a little moan, making me smile. "I love you, Tali." I whisper before covering her completely with the sheets.

I stand up again, almost tripping over her dress on the ground. Forgot where that got thrown last night. A little chuckle comes out in memory of the evening as I lay the dress across the couch so it doesn't get ruined. We have to save that for another night. Her dress shoes and necklace follow suit while I collect my clothes from the floor. My stuff goes in the bottom of the closet for wash later. I do, however, put on a new pair of jeans before closing it again.

I'm two seconds from crawling back into bed when I stop in my tracks. I look at her again and... I don't know... This girl is something special. Not just her looks. Not just her brains. Not just her heart... Something about this girl makes me fall in love with her every time I see her. I don't know how or why, but... I honestly don't think I could live without her. And looking at her now, sound asleep... She is the most beautiful thing in this galaxy...

I open up my omni-tool and start typing a message. "Hey. I woke up a little before you this morning. I know you won't get this for a while, but... I just wanted to tell you how beautiful you are. There are no words to even begin to describe it. You don't need a dress to be beautiful. I love you, Tali. For now and forever, you will be my everything. Sleep tight, baby girl. Love, Aaron."

I tweak the notification of the message, so it doesn't beep when she receives it, and send it. Her omni-tool lights up for a moment, but doesn't break the silence. Feeling content and tired, I crawl back into bed and under the covers behind Tali.

The movement in the bed finally wakes her up. She tries to roll backwards towards me, ending up in my hands. "Try not to move." I whisper on an impulsive idea.

"Why?" she groggily mutters. I feel her muscles stretch under my hands, but I keep her in one place.

"Because you treated me last night." I say as I start to rub her shoulders. "Now it's my turn to treat you."

As my thumbs start to push into her muscles, she lets out a soft moan. She relaxes and gives up on moving while I try to work out some of the kinks in her thin muscles. I stay with the tops of her shoulders for a minute, then down and across her shoulder blades. I take it slow, getting some enjoyment myself out of her occasional sighs of appreciation.

After finishing that spot, I move towards her spine. I use one thumb on either side and slowly go all the way down her back. She forgets what I said about moving and starts leaning back when I reach her hips. When she gets too close for my hands to do anything, I wrap my arms around her and pull her against me. She picks her head up and leans it on mine, using my temple for a pillow. "Comfy?" I ask with a quiet chuckle.

"Very." she giggles as she leans more into my head. "You're warm."

"Glad I could be of service, Miss vas Rannoch."

She fights my grip enough to roll over in my arms. She puts her head in front of mine, with our foreheads touching and noses grazing. Her deep white and red eyes look into mine like only someone terribly in love with you can, in a way that only she ever has.

"Do you still feel like treating me?" she asks softly. She puts her arms all the way around me for a very loving hug.

"If you have something in particular in mind." I grin. Her smile grows a little wider as she thinks of my first suggestion.

"I was thinking more about a nap." she laughs. "I'm still tired, and I don't feel like getting out of bed yet."

"We can do that."

I roll back with Tali still latched on to me. She finds her usual sleeping spot on me, with her head against my cheek, her arms around me, and her torso using me for a bed. I hold her back with my left hand while the right lands on her face. I rub her cheek with my thumb and brush the occasional strand of hair that drifts across her eyes. She gives me a quick kiss before closing her eyes for a nap.

"Want a little bit of music?" I ask.

"What kind of music?" she asks, her voice growing quieter as she falls asleep again.

"Something that's sweet and loving. Like you."

She lets out a soft giggle, along with another kiss. "Only because you can be so convincing, Mr. Shepard."

As she leans back into my cheek, I activate the speaker system again. _Wanted_ starts playing a few heartbeats later. Tali starts to drift deeper and deeper into her sleep, relaxing completely as she lays into me. I tighten my grip around her back and keep rubbing her cheek.

"I love you." I whisper.

"I love you too." she whispers back. Before the first chorus ends, she's sound asleep again.

I close my eyes myself, letting sleep start to take me. I can't fall asleep immediately, like usual, though. Maybe it's just because I'm getting too much enjoyment out of this moment. I've never just laid in bed with someone I cared about this much. Not with someone that all I had to do was look at, listen to her voice, or think about her to feel this good. Listening to her heart beat in my chest and feeling her body rise with each breath is just... perfect.

The song seems to be perfect for the moment. "When I wrap you up, when I kiss your lips, I... want to make you feel wanted. I want to call you mine, want to hold your hand forever, never let you forget it. Cause baby, I... want to make you feel wanted. As good as you make me feel, I want to make you feel better. Better than your fairy tales, better than your best dreams. You're more than everything I need: you're all I ever wanted..."

I want to sing with it, but I don't want to move at all. I think I'll do that later. I have the rest of my life to do things like that... With the galaxy's most beautiful woman, with my fiancee... with my soon-to-be wife...

* * *

The song, _Wanted_, is by Hunter Hays.


	19. A Moment of Weakness

I look over the ruins, trying to find a meaning or something to go with them. It's weird... There's all of this destruction, but there's a conflict in my heart, wanting to know what to feel... All of the buildings around the crater are warped and misshaped. Between the destroyer and the capital ships hammering this spot, there's nothing left that doesn't have a burn mark on it. I can still see most of the tank husks, all fried and cooked beyond repair. It's hard not to feel sorry for Hammer company. They got wiped out by the Reapers... And Anderson... It's going to take us a long time before we completely recover from this war... If ever.

But then again, it's a sign of the future. This is where it ended. This is where we killed the Reapers. This is where we told the cycle to go to Hell. This is where every species united under one banner to fight one threat, actually putting aside all of their differences to save the other. Garrus was right: a painful and imminent death is one hell of a motivator. But this was more than a victory... this was the end of a war. The end of four long years for me. The end of riding in a ship, getting shot at on a daily basis, not sure if we'll see the next day, but knowing we have to. So many people depended on us... And we carried on... Because we had to. Because I had to. But... what now?

"Aaron?" I hear a familiar voice behind me.

Tali appears at my side, placing a timid hand on my shoulder. I set my own on hers.

"Hey, baby girl." I say softly. "Didn't think I'd see you here."

"You ask to go to London and then you leave in the shuttle alone. Anyone who knows what happened could guess where you would disappear to."

"Am I that easy to figure out?" I chuckle.

"I know you better than I knew my father. I guess it comes with falling in love with you." she giggles a little. "I kind of wanted to come here anyway."

I turn around to face her. "Why's that?"

"I guess I'm... trying to put things into perspective."

She looks at me through the mask, the swirl of confusing feelings barely visible through the purple haze. "I keep thinking that this could have been Rannoch if you hadn't come and saved us. And that I almost lost you here..."

She tears up just a bit, making her voice lose some of its strength. "Do you know... how much I cried when you died? For months, I couldn't sleep without waking up shaking and crying for you. I missed you even before we were together. When I fell in love with you... I wanted the war to end, just so you would stay with me on Rannoch... I couldn't lose you again..."

"I know." I whisper. I give her a hug that she accepts immediately. "A lot was riding on me. On us. But everything worked out. We're still here."

"I know... I'll be ok." she whispers back. "I just... I needed to say what I was thinking."

"It's fine, Tali."

I let go of her and look back over the ruins. "At least you were thinking of something worthwhile."

"What were you thinking about?"

"What to do... after this..."

She grabs my hand hanging at my side. "Are you having second thoughts?..."

I pull her hand to my face and kiss it. "Never. I love you. And I promise I always will. It's just..."

I lower her hand back down, still holding it gently. "I've told you about everything in my life, Tali. Peace and I have never really agreed, you know? Parents and home colony killed at sixteen, enlisted at eighteen, entire squad wiped out just before I hit N7, then becoming a Spectre... Honestly, the not knowing scares me more than Harbinger ever did. It's that unknown... Just thinking that something bad could happen again... Thinking something could just come and... take it all away again..."

She pulls her hand out of mine, but then wraps her arms around me from behind. Her mask and hood press against the side of my head. I close my eyes and lean into her.

"And do you think I'm not scared?" she asks. "Do you think I know what to expect from the future?"

"No. I didn't think you'd be scared."

"Why not?"

"I've seen you scared maybe four times in the last four years. Embarrassed, nervous, shocked, yeah, but scared... Not really. It always seemed like you couldn't be scared."

"Believe me, Aaron. I'm as scared now as you are. I've always been scared for you. But I had to make sure we would both be ok... You always looked out for me... I had to look out for you... So... I stopped being scared."

"You looked out for me?" I chuckle a little. "Is that what you call it?"

"I saved your life just as many times as you did mine, you bosh'tet." she laughs softly. "If it wasn't for me, you and Garrus would be gone by now."

"You're probably right. No way I could use that shotgun as sexily as you."

She hugs me tighter and giggles. "I love you."

"I love you too, baby girl."

We stand like that for a few minutes, just zoning out and forgetting about everything but ourselves. "We don't have anywhere to go. Think we could sit down and just relax for a bit?" I ask.

"Sure." she says. She lets go and slowly lowers herself to the ground, using a piece of concrete behind us as a back of a chair. I follow her, setting my shoulder into hers.

I sigh when a question comes to mind, one I never thought I'd ask anyone. "Can I just... lay down in your arms? ...Let me have a little moment of weakness?"

"Of course." she whispers in my ear. I move over until my head's leaning against hers. Her arms fold around my shoulders and come together on my chest.

I close my eyes and relax. It's nice... to finally let go. To just realize that there's nothing wrong with galaxy and I don't have to fight anymore. No more stress of command, or of losing soldiers. No one dying... No more war... No stress at all. Just me and the girl I'll spend the rest of my life with... Haven't felt this good in years...

She starts whispering again, but not in her usual voice. It takes me a few seconds to realize she's singing. Her voice is barely loud enough for me to hear, but I recognize the tune: _The Silence Remains._

"Your fears, they know that you're scared. Wherever you go, they seem to meet you there. And you face them all on your own. Never the weak, always the strong. And you win most of the time, never once claiming that victory's mine. And you carry this burden alone, but this candle's burned at both ends for so long. Lay down, rest here in peace in my arms now, knowing your safe from the storms and the rain and from all of your pain. And I'll be here when only the silence remains."

And then it dawns on me why she's singing it. When the Normandy was a Cerberus ship, she had a nightmare about the Collector base. She woke up screaming and shaking, thinking she was back in the vents. We sat in bed for almost an hour while I tried to calm her down again. What finally worked was me singing that song to her. I didn't play the music to it or anything. I just held her against me and whispered it in her ear until she fell back to sleep...

And now she's doing the same for me...

When she's done singing, I lean a little closer on her.

"Did you listen to that song or something?" I ask.

"No... But I remember the night you sang it to me..." she says in a quiet whisper. "I couldn't forget it after that."

We both laugh a bit. Not a "something's funny" laugh. Just this little... comforting chuckle, maybe. I don't know. There's no words to describe it.

For some reason, I start singing this old song I haven't heard in years. Another old rock song, from a Christian band... _Wrapped In Your Arms..._

"Is this the whole picture, or is this just the start?... Is this the way you love me? You're capturing my heart... I used to try and walk alone, but I've begun to grow... And when you tell me just to rest, I'm finally letting go. I let go... And I'm here... to stay... Nothing can separate us. And I know... I'm ok. You cradle me gently, wrapped in your arms... I'm home..."

I only sing through the second chorus, not feeling like pulling off the climatic middle. There's a few seconds of silence when I'm done before Tali leans her head closer to my ear. "What was that?" she whispers.

"I don't know... Just some song I can hear playing in my head right now... And it fits..."

She tightens her hug around me, making the slightest smile form on my face.

"Tali?"

"Yes?"

"Do you remember what you asked me after Horizon? When we were up in the loft?"

"I asked you why you loved me... Why?"

"I was wondering if... maybe you could answer the same question about me..."

I feel her body tense up in quiet surprise and shock. "Why are you asking?" she whispers softly, uncertainty in her voice.

"Just because I want to hear you say why, baby girl... I'm having a little weak moment, and it'd feel really good right now... That's all..."

She hugs me a little tighter and sighs.

"I'll try to put it into words... If you can be patient..."

"I've got all the time in the galaxy..."

She takes a few moments to start talking, her voice soft and nervous.

"When you found me on the Citadel, you surprised me. No one else on the station had even looked at me twice. But you helped me, asking if I was ok. You wanted the data I had on Saren, but it was your second priority. Your first was watching out for me. You treated me like an equal... Something no one outside of the fleet had ever done.

"On the Normandy, I wanted to know why you had been so nice to me. I thought maybe you wanted something from me, or had some other motive. But you didn't. You were just being a good person to me, like you did to everyone else. You were nice and I liked you. You were a friend...

"I felt drawn to you, like everyone else on the ship did. Ashley and Liara were throwing themselves at you, and I felt like I couldn't compete with that... So I watched you... I watched how you tried to do the good things for everybody, even if you had to suffer for it. I watched how you were always there for us when we needed you. I watched you help Garrus with the doctor, Wrex find his armor, Liara with losing her mother. You helped me complete my Pilgrimage... You did everything you could to help anybody that needed it.

"I watched you constantly. I loved seeing you joke with the other crewmen, listening to you play those sad songs on your guitar from your room... seeing all of those little things that make you special... the way you immediately protected people, how you always bobbed your head to music while checking the crew, that sarcasm you had when things were going wrong...

"You were smart, you were nice, you were charming, you were funny, you were cute... There wasn't a thing about you that I didn't like... So I guess I... slowly became interested in you...

"When you told me that you were interested in me too, I almost had a heart attack. I couldn't believe that you liked me too. I couldn't believe you were choosing me over everyone else on the ship. Sometimes, it's still hard to believe... But that first night... I felt that same peace that you did... I have never met anyone that makes me so happy simply by being around. I have never met anyone that gives me a peace like you do...

"The more time I spent with you, the more I wanted to be with you. I loved being with you before that night but... If we watched a movie, I never wanted to leave your arm. If we had dinner, I never wanted to leave the table. If we slept together, I couldn't leave the bed... The peace you gave me... that feeling like I was wanted for being me... is something that only you give me...

"I know I didn't really tell you why, but... I can't pick a reason. Like you told me... that's how I know I love you..."

She tightens her hug around me and lays her head on my shoulder. "Is that an answer?" she whispers.

"It's perfect, Tali." I whisper back. I lean my head against hers. "That's exactly what I wanted to hear."

"Thank you... I love you."

"I love you, too..."

...

...

...

"So wait... you were listening to me through the walls of my room?"


	20. Credits

Thank you all for your followings and support during this project of mine. You have no idea how much your reviews and the number of followers made me want me to keep writing. In particular, I need to thank T-Biggz for your crying review, wanako for being my first "The End of a War" groupie, and Para-Cord for being one of the few who read my early works and my new stuff. You guys and gals made my day more than once.

Next, I need to thank all of my sources of inspirations. The first, and probably most subtle one, was Bioware's datapad app for the iPhone. It was a little stupid, but it did spawn the idea for the message from Shepard to Tali at the end of "Special Treatment." If anyone's romanced Garrus and checked their messages with that app afterward, you know which message I'm talking about.

One of the smaller, more subtle ones was a story from DeviantArt. _Shepard is Mine_ by Harms1 (which is also here on fanfic under the same name and author). The inspiration is a little more vague, but it gave me the idea for Tali's fight with the drell and her reasons for loving Shepard. It's a short, good read that I recommend going over and checking out.

The biggest inspiration is _Wings of Fire_ by Bahoogasmif. I had so many ideas floating in my head, but I could never come up with a way to flesh them out. Reading his (I'm assuming it's a "his") story gave me that way, and I thank him for that. Anyone who read it will always make the connection dress and the story, along with the decontamination chamber and the special Quarian marriage vow. Please read it. It takes a while to go through from beginning to end, but it's worth it.

Also, the main inspiration for the ending came from a picture on DeviantArt. It's called _London Ruins (Male/Tali)_ by Neehs. You can obviously see how I got the ending from it, and I hope you'll go over there and see it. And, of course, I need to thank Bioware for their amazing game trilogy. I'm sorry for rewriting your ending, but Tali deserved better.

Finally, I need to make a personal thank you to my old friend, Basil. That stupid moron is the only person I've ever shown my work to that knew me personally. Thanks for the handful of critics, jokes, and not making fun of my romanticism. I will continue to outrun you, and you will continue to cuss at me as I lap you.

I'll keep writing stories like this, but I'm taking a break for a while. I have a very rough draft for a just as long story after ME2 started, but it'll be a long time before I post it. There'll be a few more short things here and there to keep you entertained, but I need some work to get the longer story done. Be patient please. I will not forget about you.

~Yours truly,

Machinist's Guardian Archangel

As a side note, another thank you to some very awesome bands that were in my story (in order they appeared).

Matt Nathanson's _Still _from _Some Mad Hope _album

Theory of a Deadman's _Wait for Me_ from _Scars and Souvenirs _

Nickelback's_ Far Away _from_ All the Right Reasons_

State of Man's _Be Still My Heart _from_ In This Place_

Foo Fighter's _Everlong _from _The Colour and the Shapes_

AC/DC's _You Shook Me All Night Long _from _Back In Black _

Santana's _Into the Night _from _Ultimate Santana _

Staind's_ All I Want _from_ The Illusion of Progress_

Edwin McCain's _I'll Be_ from _Misguided Roses_

Taylor Hick's_ Places I've Been _from his self-titled album

Eminem's _'Til I Collapse _from _The Eminem Show_

Thousand Foot Krutch's _Rawkfist _from _Phenomenon_

Hunter Hays'_ Wanted _from his self-titled album

Fireflight's _Wrapped in Your Arms_ from _Unbreakable_

And, last but not least, my favorite band of all time...  
3 Doors Down's _Here Without You_ from _Away From the Sun_

and _The Silence Remains _from _Time of My Life_


End file.
